The Future is Wild: a novelization
by S.A. Bones
Summary: Ten thousand years in the future, a new ice age threatens humanity. Our only hope: four teens and a terrasquid traveling to the strange worlds millions of years in the future to find a new home. Based on 'The Future is Wild' cartoon series.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Ten thousand years in the future, a new ice age has ravaged the Earth. Humanity has spent all its resources on the preservation of the species, but all efforts to hold off the forces of nature have proved futile; for the first time in millennia humanity has found itself on the brink of extinction.

But, one hope remains. As a final resort, the governments of the world have funded the development of time travel in the hopes of relocating humanity to a time in the future suitable for habitation. Several tests have proven successful, leading up to a final manned expedition, it's mission to survey the strange future eons to find a new home.


	2. Chapter 1: Outset

**Chapter One: Outset.**

. June 9th, 12,367 AD.

The wind whipped around Cassiopeia G as she stepped out onto the launchpad. The cold air nipped at her exposed face underneath her parka, small flecks of ice sticking to her eyebrows which she futilely tried to brush off with her gloved hand. Despite the frigid cold that had been humanity's reality for the last three centuries, today was exceptionally good weather all things considered. The grey sheet of cloud that usually blanketed the sky had thinned, allowing the ghostly disc of the sun to shine through; perfect weather for the launch.

Across the extent of the launchpad, she could see the vessel that has become the pride and joy of the Northern Federation's Temporal Exploration Guild and would become her home for the next few months, the Time Flyer. From her position she could see the modular form of the timeship, its silvery-blue hull a dull grey under the overcast sky. Two wing-like structures extended from the rear of the vessel, two temporal portal generators situated on their ends, a green light emanating from the ring-like structures. Surrounding the craft Cassiopeia could see technicians making their final checks of the Time Flyer, but it was the small group that stood in front of the vessel which caught the girl's attention, the group she knew consisted of high ranking members of the Temporal Exploration Guild and her father.

Taking a deep breath, Cassiopeia made her way across the pad towards the Time Flyer. As she grew closer to the timeship, she noticed that the wind had begun to die down. Above her she saw that the cloud cover had begun to thin, allowing a hole to form in which a few stray rays of light shone through.

 _Perhaps this is a good omen_ , thought Cassiopeia.

Finally, Cassiopeia found herself before the group, numbering five in total. Four of the individuals wore grey parkas with the insignia of the Temporal Exploration Guild stamped on the right breast, one of whom she recognized as her professor from the Academy of Time-Space Exploration, Techne Shu. The fifth figure wore a blue parka like her own, a grey beard sticking out from the hood, this was her father, Cedric G, head engineer of the Temporal Exploration Guild's Engineering Corp.

"Gentlemen, Professor Shu, Father", said Cassiopeia, addressing each member of the crowd with a nod.

"Cassiopeia G", said one of the men in the grey parkas, who Cassiopeia recognized as Minister Findas Rohd. "On behalf of the Temporal Exploration Guild and all of humanity, we wish you a safe voyage."

"Thank you, Minister Rohd", said Cassiopeia. "As a student of the Academy of Space-Time Exploration, it is my honor to partake in this expedition."

"Cassiopeia", came the voice of her father, a stocky man with greying hair. "Are you certain that you are up to this mission?"

"Yes, father', said Cassiopeia. "I am."

"Good", replied the bearded man. "Then let us get you acquainted with your vessel."

Cassiopeia followed as her father led the group towards the Time Flyer. As she got closer to the timeship, she noted how large the ship was, over forty feet in length and nearly twenty feet high. While she had been aware that the vessel would be large, she couldn't help but feel somewhat intimidated by the size of the craft. She shook the feeling off as a technician opened the hatch at the rear of the vessel, leading into its large cargo bay.

Inside the Time Flyer was significantly warmer than it was outside. The group removed their hoods and unzipped their parkas. Cassiopeia did the same, quickly running her fingers through her hair, auburn with natural streaks of blue near the bangs, to straighten it. At the end of the cargo bay was a small stairway leading through a smaller hatch to the upper deck.

"Here are your living quarters", Cassiopeia's father said, pointing out the large alcove at the back of the ship. Two sets of bunks were situated on each wall near the center, freshly made. At the very back was what appeared to be a kitchen area with a circular table and booth. "I trust these accommodations will be adequate for your journey."

"Most adequate", replied Cassiopeia, observing the quarters. While they were minimalistic in design, the living quarters had an air of hominess to them, though they could use a bit of personalization.

"Through here you will find the bridge", her father continued, leading the group through a pair of doors.

Cassiopeia gasped at the sigh. While she had been through simulations of the Time Flyer in her time at the academy, they were nothing compared to the actual vessel. The bridge was spacious, a round table with four chairs placed around it was situated at the center, on each wall was a row of computers and sensor readout displays, and at the front, beneath three glass domes serving as windows, was the helm.

"I trust this will all seem familiar to you, Cassiopeia", Professor Shu said, a slight smile on her face.

"Very", Cassiopeia replied. She then looked around, puzzled. "Father, I was told that there would be a crew accompanying me."

"Indeed, I did", replied her father. He pressed a button on the console of the central table and a panel on the floor opened. From the compartment below three robots floated up, capsule shaped things with a pair of thin manipulator arms.

"Commander on deck", one of the robots announced in an electronic voice. At this it and the other two robots gave a salute to Cassiopeia.

"Robots?" Cassiopeia said.

"We thought it more efficient to utilize a robotic crew to assist you", her father said. "They have been designed to assist you on your exploration in anyway necessary. They will also provide enjoyable social interaction so important to adolescents."

Cassiopeia looked over the robots again. The three robots' bodies were roughly teardrop shaped with a single eye in the center. The arms of the robots were colored to differentiate the three; blue for one, green for the other, and yellow for the last. She was kind of glad that they were robots, as social interaction had not been one of her strong points, as anyone at the academy would tell you, but at the same time she was a bit disappointed, as she had hoped to bond with real people presumably her own age; perhaps their circumstances would've somehow made it easier to connect, at least that was what she had thought. _A silly thought_ , she scolded herself.

"They are a fine crew", Cassiopeia said at last. "Thank you, all of you. I will not let you down."

"We are sure you won't", Minister Rohd said. "Safe travels and Godspeed."

With that the three Guild members and Professor Shu made their way out of the bridge. However, her father remained, standing by the central table until the four had left the bridge and closed the door behind them.

"Is something wrong, father?" Cassiopeia asked.

"Oh, no", her father replied. "Nothing is wrong. I just wished to let you know how… proud I am of you."

Cassiopeia's heart nearly skipped a beat. While she knew that her father cared deeply for her, he had always had a stern disposition towards her. But the look of pride that he now wore on his usually stoic face touched her in a way she had desired for a long time.

"Cassiopeia", her father continued, placing a hand on his daughter's shoulder. "You are about to become the first human to travel into the future. This mission is of utmost importance, and through your hard work and dedication to the mission you have shown the ability to endure them, and for this I am very proud."

"Thank you, father", Cassiopeia said, a smile forming on her lips.

"And I know that your mother would have been very proud as well", said her father, looking down into Cassiopeia's eyes.

"You really think so?" the girl asked.

"I know so", her father replied, placing a few stray strands of blue hairs behind her ear. He then removed his hands from his daughter's shoulder and began to put on his parka. "Farewell, Cassiopeia", he said as he made his way to the door.

"Farewell, father", Cassiopeia said with a small wave.

With one final look, Cassiopeia's father turned and left the bridge, leaving Cassiopeia alone.

"Greetings commander", an electronic voice said.

Cassiopeia jumped at the sudden intrusion. She looked to see one of the robots, the blue one, hovering before her.

"Ah, yes", said Cassiopeia, regaining her composure. "And you are?"

"Apologies", said the robot, placing a hand upon its metallic casing. "I am Nelnut, your chief engineer on this voyage. I also provide a variety of entertaining games." From a compartment on the robot's back Nelnut produced a small ball and some sort of curved object. It then threw the objects, causing them to ricochet off the walls and hit the other two robots with a metallic clang. The robot continued, "As well as engage in age appropriate banter, to make our travel time whiz by like a portal jump to Krebulon V."

Nelnut chuckled at this, seeming to find some humor in his statement. Cassiopeia gave a nervous chuckle as well. "Very amusing, Nelnut", she said.

"For example", the robot went on. "I have several jokes in my archives."

Cassiopeia forced a smile. This robot was going to drive her insane. "Oh, is that so? Um, do you have a volume control?"

"Affirmative, commander', replied the robot. "Prepare for humor: an android, a clone, and a can opener walk into a bar…"

Before the blue robot could continue, Cassiopeia touched the volume knob she had located on the side of the robot's head, causing the robot's electronic voice to quiet until it was completely silenced. "Good", said Cassiopeia, reveling in the silence as the robot backed away, seeming to take the hint.

"Suroc reporting, madam", a calm eloquent voice said as the green robot came forward.

"Hello", said Cassiopeia, admiring Suroc's calmer tone. "I trust you are the expert in animal behavior."

"Correct", replied the green robot. "I am also a medic and familiar with adolescent peer issues. If the commander has any emotional conflict she may share them in my rear speaker-phone.

Suroc proceeded to turn around, revealing a circular device on it's backside. Cassiopeia cringed at this, not exactly fond of the idea of speaking into something's… bottom. "Er, I feel fine, Suroc. Thanks", she stated, backing away from the robot.

"Self esteem rating: above normal", Suroc announced, to which Cassiopeia rolled her eyes as the robot hovered away.

"Visocod Y reporting", said the final robot, yellow in coloration. Its speech was tinted with an accent that Cassiopeia recognized as one found in the Euros Providence.

"Hello, Visocod Y, ready for adventure?" Cassiopeia asked.

"Affirmative", replied the robot. "I am designed to scout environments that may hold potential threats. I have also been modified to serve as the ship's cook."

"Really?" said Cassiopeia. _Figures_ , she thought. _Her father would never trust her to cook._

"Indeed, I can create twelve different vitamin bars and nutritious liquids", Visocod Y went on, producing a sort of cocktail shaker and shook it, a liquid sloshing around inside. "Healthy smoothie?" the robot asked, holding out the finished product.

Cassiopeia leaned towards the cup in the robot's hand, which contained a sort of green liquid. She sniffed it and was immediately repulsed by the smell. "Maybe in a few million years", she said, gently pushing the cup away. "Thank you."

"Understood", replied Visocod Y and it floated off to join the others.

Cassiopeia looked over the three robots before her. While she was sure her father had intended for them to be as authentic as possible, she felt as though they were a bit too overbearing and artificial. Perhaps she would grow accustomed to it as the mission went on.

"You are a fine crew", Cassiopeia said. "Prepare for vortex entry."

With that she made her way to the helm. Sitting down into the large chair before it, she waved her hand over the glass display causing holographic icons to flicker into existence. With this her training took over as she initiated the ignition sequence. A hum could be heard as the Time Flyer's engines came online and the turbines in the temporal portal generators, which also helped propel the timeship, began to lift the Time Flyer off the ground. She placed her hands into two circular icons, the hard-light interface allowing her to pilot the vessel. She looked out through the large bubble of glass before her and could see her father and the others looking up towards her. She caught sight of her father waving up at her, to which Cassiopeia waved back, unsure if he even saw.

"Initiating time vortex entry", the voice of the ship's onboard computer announced as the rhythmic thrumming of the engines grew louder. Ahead Cassiopeia could see the air around the Time Flyer begin to ripple as the ship moved forward. And as the thrumming of the engines reached a climax the Time Flyer shot forward with a crack as the world of 12,3607 A.D. disappeared and gave way to the blue chaos of the time vortex.

"Time vortex entry successful. Destination: two-hundred million A.D., Northern Forests", announced the computer. "Estimated time of arrival: thirty minutes."

Cassiopeia looked out into the blue world before her as the Time Flyer flew through the vortex, millennia passing by with each second.

"Future world, here I come", Cassiopeia said to herself as she returned her focus to the helm.


	3. Chapter 2: Rocket Man

**Chapter Two: Rocket Man**

. June 8th, 2007 AD.

The afternoon bell of Urban International High School rang as the clock struck three, signaling the end of the school day. At this, students began to pour from their classes, eager to escape the rigors of academic work and enjoy the rest of their day to prepare for the upcoming weekend. Chatter filled the halls as students conspired for what activities they planned for tomorrow as well as hint at plans for the upcoming summer break a mere three weeks away.

One of these students was Luis Calabasas. The sophomore, a young man of Hispanic origins with black hair, was just exiting his last class of the day, honors physics, as he fell into the tide of people moving towards the exit. In his head, he reviewed last minute notes from class, notes which would prove useful for the upcoming exams at the end of the year, but like many of his peers he was also thinking about plans for the weekend.

He eventually found himself in the courtyard, the national and provincial flags of Canada and Ontario flapping in the wind as the sun shone down. Students began to disperse here, either heading for the buses or embarking on the walk home from the school while others hung around the courtyard conversing. Luis peered into the crowd, attempting to locate two faces, those of his friends Emily and Ethan. He had planned to involve them in his plans for tomorrow, but now he just had to find them.

"Hey, Luis!" a voice called from the crowd.

Luis looked to see Emily Lonartae, a girl he had known since middle school and had become good friends with, making her way towards him. The petite redhead was accompanied by her twin sister, Miranda, who wore her hair long in contrast to Emily's short pigtails to differentiate the two. Luis noted that Emily was carrying a notebook with a variety of cute animals printed on the cover, an indication to the girl's deep-set love for animals of all kind.

"Hey, Em", Luis called back as the two girls approached. "Miranda."

"Hey, Luis", Miranda said with a wave.

"So, what's up?" Emily asked as Miranda parted ways to join with a group of girls on the other end of the courtyard.

"Oh, nothing much", said Luis, scratching his head. "Well, I do have a little something planned, that is if you don't already have any plans for tomorrow."

"Well, Miranda might have something going on", Emily said after a moment's thought. "But I don't have any plans."

"Ah, good", Luis said. "Because I was hoping that you and Ethan could help me with a little project I was working on."

"Really?" Emily said.

"Yes", continued Luis before stopping. "By the way, speaking of Ethan, have you seen him?"

Emily was about to say something before a familiar voice called out "Heads up!" before a football whizzed between the two, bouncing and tumbling as it hit the ground. The next thing Luis knew he felt the impact of two-hundred pounds of human muscle as Ethan plowed into him, causing them both to crash into a nearby bush.

"Ow", groaned Luis as he felt twigs poke into his sides, as well as what he assumed was Ethan's elbow pressing into his abdomen.

"Oops, sorry dude", said Ethan as he got up and, instead of helping him up as Luis was hoping, ran over to where the football had landed and threw it over towards a group of boys across the courtyard.

Luis sighed. Ethan Bolato, school jock and town meathead, was a stocky young man with broad shoulders and a few inches taller than Luis. Like Emily, Luis had met Ethan in middle school, under surprisingly similar circumstances as he recalled as Emily helped him up from the bush, which now sported a large dent in its former uniform cube shape.

"Catch you guys later!" Ethan called over to the guys he had just thrown the ball to, fellow members of the school's football team. He then felt a small pain in his arm at Emily punched him, her small hands doing nothing more than catch his attention.

"You jerk!" Emily scolded, arms crossed as she stared the larger boy down, or rather up as Ethan was a full head taller than the redhead.

"Hey, not my fault he was in my way", Ethan said, hands up in a mock defensive gesture. However, it was obvious this answer was unacceptable to Emily, who continued to glare up at him. "Fine", Ethan relented as he walked over to Luis. "Are you okay, Luis?"

"Besides a few bruises, yes, I'm fine", Luis said as he brushed a few remaining leaves off his shirt.

"Luis was just wondering where you were", Emily said, somewhat satisfied with Ethan's display.

"Really, what's up?" Ethan asked.

"Right", Luis said, flicking a twig from off his shoulder. "I had just asked Emily to help me with a project I had been working on and was wondering if you would want to help me with it."

"Project, huh", Ethan said, pushing his blond hair back. "You mean that do-hickey you've been working on these last few days?"

"The very same", said Luis. "And I would like you two to assist me in its launch."

"Launch?" Emily and Ethan said in unison.

"Right, I'll show you", said Luis. "Come on."

With that the three friends made their way off school grounds and down the sidewalk towards Luis's house. The three of them were an odd bunch, three completely different personality types somehow coming together. Luis, the intellectual of the group, though Ethan referred to him as nerd, was involved in many extracurricular activities but always found time to pursue his love for videogames and sci-fi flicks. Emily, while somewhat short in stature, made up for her vertical shortcomings with her maternal attributes, especially towards the nonhuman inhabitants of the world, and had gained Luis's respect with her ability to _almost_ keep up with him during gaming sessions. Ethan, the athletic one of the group, while somewhat brutish and emptyheaded, to which Luis accredited multiple blows to the head during football practice, had moments of levelheadedness and a sense of humor which could more than make up for it all. Regardless of what it as that had kept the group together despite their seemingly different walks of life, they were glad of it and enjoyed each other's company.

Finally, the three arrived at the Calabasas household. Luis led Emily and Ethan up the driveway to the small garage on the side of the single-story house beneath a large maple. Inside, amongst the gardening tools and bits of old furniture, was a large table at the very back of the building, upon which sat a tall object covered in a tarp.

"Lady and gentleman", Luis said. "Allow me to introduce you to my pride and joy."

With that Luis removed the tarp revealing a white rocket nearly three feet tall. Red pinstripes marked the top of the rocket, its jet-black nose shone in the sunlight from the small window above, four large fins supporting the rocket.

"Wow", Emily said, moving closer to the rocket.

"Yeah, cool rocket, bro", Ethan commented, looking the thing over.

"Thank you", Luis said, pride in his voice. "But this is no ordinary rocket, my friends. This is an Orbit King 3000, customized to my specifications."

"Uh-huh", Ethan said. "So, why do you need us, again?"

"Well, as I said before, I need both your help to launch it", explained Luis. "It is my hope that I'll be able to launch this baby into low earth orbit where, thanks to my modifications, I will be able to launch my own personal satellite, which I will monitor from here." Luis motioned over to a white desktop computer on the edge of the table.

"Neat", said Emily.

"Alright", said Ethan, clapping his hands together. "Let's set this baby up."

"Not so fast, big guy", Luis said, standing between Ethan and the rocket. "We can't just launch a rocket willy-nilly into the air, we need to wait for the perfect conditions."

"And when will that be?" asked Emily.

"Tomorrow morning at approximately…" Luis looked over to a notebook next to the rocket. "Six-o-nine a.m."

"You can't be serious", said Ethan. "There's no way I'm getting up that early to watch an overgrown firecracker."

"Come on", pleaded Luis. "I can't do it alone, my folks don't know anything about this and Emily won't be enough, and plus you're the only one strong enough to lift it."

"Oh, so you asked me to come along to be your pack mule", said Ethan, crossing his arms.

"Well", said Luis, rubbing his arm nervously. "I wouldn't but it like that, but..."

"Come on, Ethan", Emily said. "It'll be fun. Please."

Ethan looked down into Emily's pleading eyes. Those two green portals, flecked with hazel, pierced through his resolve and made him rethink it, if not to please her. Darn it, why was she so persuasive?

"Fine, Em, I'll do it", said Ethan, producing a smile from Emily. "But", continued Ethan, looking to Luis. "You owe me, rocket boy."

"Will breakfast at the Snack Shack suffice?" asked Luis.

"Deal", said Ethan.

"Alright", said Luis. "The Eagle is a-go for launch." He put an arm around the two as they looked at the rocket. "Guys, believe me, tomorrow will be a day you'll never forget."


	4. Chapter 3: Squibbon

**Chapter Three: Squibbon**

"Automatic pilot engaged", the Time Flyer's onboard computer announced as Cassiopeia pushed herself away from the helm. Nearly ten minutes had passed since she had begun her voyage into the future, and Cassiopeia found herself thinking about the mission ahead.

She thought back on the weeks leading up to the mission back at the academy, of how she would sit in her dorm after each day of simulations and training and stare up at the ceiling, the full weight of what she was about to do dawning on her and realizing that she was terrified. For nearly all her life, since she was twelve years old, she had been trained for this mission along with nearly three hundred other candidates from throughout the Federation, and while she was somewhat aware of the mission the training would eventually lead up to, it had never occurred to her how serious it had been; to her all the training was just another part of her routine. It wasn't until she was told that she had been selected as the pilot of the Time Flyer that reality caught up with her, the feelings of excitement, of nervousness, and of growing terror as she felt the weight of essentially being humanity's sole hope to save it from extinction; she had wanted to die then, if not to spare her from that unbearable feeling.

But now, as she looked out into the time vortex, she felt a sense of calm come over her and now felt a sense of excitement come over her, of exhilaration. She supposed the most accurate analogy would be the terror one felt before jumping from a high place and the sensation of excitement one experiences as they jump. Now she was no longer afraid of what lay ahead, perhaps a bit nervous about the unknown frontier before her, but she now found herself with a sense of resolve as she made her way through the centuries towards her destination.

She then became aware of how hungry she was. She hadn't exactly eaten a big breakfast before leaving, she had been too nervous to eat, but now she was starving. Perhaps she could find something in the galley.

"Nelnut", Cassiopeia said as she stood.

"Yes, commander", the robot said as it hovered closer.

"You have the bridge until I get back", Cassiopeia continued as she made her way towards the rear of the ship.

"Yes, commander", Nelnut replied as the door closed behind Cassiopeia.

Cassiopeia made her way down the stretch of hallway past the storage closet into the living quarters. In the alcove of the dining area she found a small compartment in the side of the wall before the table where a small machine sat. Cassiopeia recognized the machine as a NutriMatic 167, the source of her food for the duration of the voyage which would provide her with a variety of nutrient bars. She looked over the selection available on a small screen on the machine: citrus, sweet, salty-savory, protein. Cassiopeia selected the salt-savory option along with the sweet. The machine whirred and from the bottom of the machine through a small slot came bars, a sort of brown and white drizzle on the tops. Cassiopeia took the bars and made her way to the table and sat in the booth. She took a bite from one of the bars, a nutty flavor hitting her tongue as she chewed. She looked down at the other two bars and sighed, realizing that these things were going to be the most she would eat on her mission, unless, of course, fruit still existed in the future.

"Excuse me, commander", Suroc said, entering the quarters. "You are needed on the bridge."

"Hmm?" Cassiopeia said, half a nutrient bar in her mouth. "Coming." She shoved the rest of the bar, the sweet one, into her face and brushed the crumbs from her mouth.

Upon entering the bridge, she noticed that the time vortex, once a dark blue that was almost black, had turned a lighter shade of blue. As the doors closed behind her, the computer announced, "Time vortex egress imminent. Destination: two-hundred million AD."

"Commander, I recommend you return to the helm", Nelnut said, motioning towards the helm.

"Right", agreed Cassiopeia. "Prepare for vortex exit."

With that Cassiopeia returned to the helm, preparing to bring the Time Flyer to the first destination of its voyage. As she readied the timeship to land, she felt that new sense of excitement beginning to build up within her. For the first time in a very long time, Cassiopeia G was looking forward for what was to come next.

. . . . .

When Alfred Wagner came forward with the theory of plate tectonics in 1912, he offered an explanation as to how and why the continents of the Earth had come to be in their present position. While his theory would go unproven for another forty years, his idea became excepted in the 1950's with the observation of seafloor spreading, giving rise in the support of another one of Wagner's theories, the theory that a supercontinent comprising of all modern landmasses existed some two-hundred million years ago, a landmass he had called Pangea. With further research, it was later discovered that there had been several previous supercontinents before Pangea, such as the landmass known as Ur, Columbia, and Rodinia. With evidence that previous supercontinents existed in the past, scientists of the twenty-first century wondered if another supercontinent could ever come about in the future. This proposed continent was dubbed Pangea Ultima or Pangea Two, and was believed to form in two-hundred million years. While the theory did seem plausible, there was no possible way to verify this theory.

This all changed nearly ten thousand years later when the first temporal probes, sent to scope out the future earth, confirmed the suspicions of those ancient scientists. Along with the verification of the existence of the supercontinent, hence dubbed Pangea Two by scientists of the Guild, they also discovered the various ecosystems that had formed on this continent. One of these ecosystems was the Northern Forests, a vast rainforest located in the continent's northwestern corner where near constant rainfall provided the perfect conditions for the many strange lifeforms that had come to inhabit the area, ranging from the hundred-meter-high descendants of conifers to new forms of terrestrial life speculated to have evolved from marine animals.

The Guild, having surveyed many of the time periods, had found several potential spots suitable for habitation. However, the Northern Forests of Pangea Two seemed to hold the most promise, with a plentiful water supply and lush plant life, indicating fertile soil and, above all else, a temperate climate. But whether this area was truly capable of human habitation all depended on a manned expedition of the region, with later expeditions to the various time periods to gather data to aid scientists in cross referencing the best possible locations for permanent human relocation.

Now, all they had to do was wait.

. . . .

. August 15, 200,567,018 AD.

Thunder rolled in the distance in the skies above the Northern Forest, a sign to the world that a storm was soon to come. The wind blew through the large conifers, standing as tall as redwoods, causing their boughs to sway and bend as clouds began to gather overhead. On the forest floor, amongst the ferns and low-lying foliage, various small animals scurried to find shelter from the oncoming storm.

From the ferns one creature dared to emerge, a fern skitter. The small animal, no more than two feet long, was a descendent of the many marine species that had made the bold move to land over the last two-hundred million years. It resembled a sort of large mudskipper, two rows of spines upon its back, tipped with poison to ward off predators, two muscular legs propelling it forward on its constant search for food, namely small insects or the occasional carrion of a larger animal. While most ground dwelling creatures seemed to avoid the rain, the fern skitter retain its ancestral love of the water, still possessing a pair of gills to aid it in breathing underwater as it swam in the nearby rivers. This love of the water also gave the fern skitter another advantage, free pickings of anything it found such as the worms that came from the ground with the rain. Indeed, as it stood, he was now the unchallenged master of the forest.

A loud crack of thunder shook the sky, followed by another sound. Up above the sky began to ripple, glowing red as a bright flash erupted in the sky followed by a large… thing that made a whirring noise. The fern skitter let out a frightened croak, its spines rising in defense as the flying thing began to make its way down to the forest floor. At this the fern skitter decided that it wasn't hungry after all and made a dash for the nearest bush as fast as its little legs could carry it.

From the overcast sky the Time Flyer came into the world of two-hundred million AD. The craft hovered above the trees before locating a large clearing in which to land. The Time Flyer began to descend, the wind from the turbines causing nearby branches to shake and kicked up leaves below as the craft landed on the soft spongy ground. The whine from the turbines began to wind down, the thrum of the engines growing silent as the timeship grew silent.

A hiss could be heard as the cargo bay hatch swung open. From the opening Cassiopeia emerged and from the threshold of the bay doors looked out into the strange new world before her. She felt the soft warm wind brush against her, carrying with it the sweet scent of life and decay from the forest beyond. In the air she could hear trees rustling in the breeze as well as the distant cries of animals amongst the trunks of the massive trees that loomed above her.

Cassiopeia gasped. Back home, while most of the world was a desolate waste of grey and white, there were some dwindling pockets of green, biodomes which held small forests, the last on the frozen earth. But this was different, this was real, the product of over two thousand millennia untouched by human hands. And she was about to become the first human to walk the earth in two hundred million years.

 _What was it that astronaut had said?_ Cassiopeia thought as she looked out onto the virgin world. While she was certain that she had heard the words before "one giant step for… humanity?" No, that wasn't right. However, she did have words of her own. "What an amazing sight", she said aloud. "Nelnut, Visocod, come. I cannot wait to explore the native flora and fauna."

With that, Cassiopeia prepared to step onto the ramp and into the world. That was until Nelnut came forward, blocking her path.

"Exploration not necessary, commander", the robot said. "Initial scans predict only a twenty-three percent chance of this environment being suitable for human relocation."

"What?" Cassiopeia said, a puzzled look on her face. Surely the robot could not be serious, she had trained practically half her life for this mission. Perhaps this was one of Nelnut's attempts at humor. Yes, that was it. "Very funny, Nelnut, but I insist that we go out and investigate the surrounding terrain."

With that, she made her way down the ramp towards the forest floor. Out here the smells of the forest were stronger, and Cassiopeia noticed a new smell, one she could not quite place; a sort of sweet, earthy smell that hung in the air. She took a breath and prepared herself to step out onto the new terrain…

Something grabbed Cassiopeia's shoulder. She gasped and turned to see Visocod Y floating behind her. "Commander, I caution you to remain here on the ship until I can explore the dangerous unknown", the robot said, gently pulling her back before zipping off into the forest.

"Wait, no!" Cassiopeia exclaimed. She could not believe this was happening. She ran out onto the clearing, the damp ground sagging beneath her feet as she ran after the robot. "Visocod, stop!"

The robot halted and turned towards her. Cassiopeia caught up with the robot, a bit winded from the run. "Visocod, I insist that you accompany me to explore the region."

"I am sorry, commander", the robot said. "But it is for your own safety that I implore you to wait in the ship. You may review the data I record upon my return."

Before Cassiopeia could say another word, Visocod zipped off, soon disappearing in the depths of the trees. Cassiopeia stood dumbfounded. She couldn't believe it, all her training, all the time spent in simulations, and the distance she had traveled, only to be told by a flying hunk of metal to stay in the ship! She felt anger welling up inside of her now, her cheeks hot as her blood boiled.

"I did not come two-hundred million years just to stand here!" Cassiopeia shouted into the forest, even though Visocod was sure to be too far away to hear her. "And I refuse to return to the ship, and there is nothing that will stop me from investigating this forest!"

Suddenly, thunder rolled as lightening streaked across the sky. Mere seconds later, Cassiopeia felt sheets of water fall on her as the gathering clouds released their load, soaking the girl instantly.

Cassiopeia fumed silently as she felt herself get drenched. From over the sound of drumming rain she could've sworn she heard Suroc calling for her to return to the ship for her health. She let out a huff and sloshed back to the Time Flyer, water dripping off her as the hatch closed behind her. A towel was draped over her shoulders, Suroc's work Cassiopeia figured, but now she was too despondent to care.

"Commander, you seem to be unhappy", Suroc said, floating before her. "Would you like to talk about it?"

 _Sure, why not_ , Cassiopeia thought ruefully. "I just feel a bit, frustrated. I've come all this way, work so hard my whole life, my **whole** life, only to be told to wait in the ship!" She sighed. "It just makes me feel a bit, you know, useless."

Suroc was silent for a moment before saying, "Analysis: you seem to be developing a mild inferiority complex. Recommendation: please tell me about your childhood."

Cassiopeia huffed. "I have a better idea, how about you and Nelnut wait in the bridge while I dry off, okay?"

"Understood, commander", Suroc said, saluting before turning to join Nelnut in the bridge, the door sliding shut behind him.

Cassiopeia sighed as she let the towel drop to the floor. As she made her way to the storage closet, where changes of clothes waited for her, she thought back to that astronaut from so long ago. _I bet he didn't have a robot telling him he couldn't go out into the forest_ , she thought.

. . . . .

It was nearly two hours later before the rain had begun to lighten up and Vosocod Y had yet to return. It was during this time that Cassiopeia had taken to looking over the available data on the Northern Forests as well as the neighboring ecosystems to the south. In her studies Cassiopeia learned that the Northern Forests was in what had once been the North American continent, around what had once been the Pacific Northwest, an area that was notorious for its frequent rainfall. She had also discovered that south of the forests was a large stretch of savannah, an area, she recalled, that the probes had never really explored. Perhaps these southern grasslands would be much more suitable than the forest, large open spaces and presumably adequate rainfall. Perhaps they would survey that area next. That was, of course, if Visocod Y hadn't already been there.

Cassiopeia sighed. With the amount of time that the robot had been gone, she wouldn't be surprised if it had catalogued the entire forest by now. She wondered what could possibly be taking so long, surely there wasn't that much to explore in the forest, the forest that she was not exploring.

Cassiopeia huffed. That was it, she decided. Whether Nelnut and Suroc liked it or not she was at least going to have a look around the forest in the immediate vicinity of the Time Flyer, if not to say that she at least did something than read about the estimated average rainfall of the region.

The bay doors opened as Cassiopeia made her way onto the clearing again. The sky had cleared significantly after the downpour, the air saturated with a light mist and the smell of damp vegetation. She looked around and chose a direction, northeast if she judged right, and made her way towards the foliage.

The forest was much thicker than Cassiopeia had anticipated, the low-lying vegetation standing up to her waist. She also noted that the forest was much darker here, possibly due to the thick canopy of the large conifer trees above her. Peering into the gloomy darkness, Cassiopeia could make out some sort of dim blue light coming from some of the trees. Upon further inspection, she found that the source of the light was several small mushrooms that grew in clumps around the base of the trees, a sort of sweet smell coming off them.

 _Indication that they are edible?_ Cassiopeia considered. Possibly, but she wasn't exactly keen on finding out right now but was something to keep in mind. She looked back and could still make out the shape of the Time Flyer through the foliage, she hadn't gone far. She pressed on, hoping to take in as much as she could before either Nelnut or Suroc noticed that she was gone.

Eventually the undergrowth began to thin out, giving way to what appeared to be a small clearing. Cassiopeia looked around and noticed that the clearing seemed to wind around the trees, the few plants that grew here appearing to have been stomped by some large creature. Cassiopeia's suspicions were confirmed when she noticed large round prints in the dirt, spanning nearly a meter in diameter and indicating that whatever creature had left them possessed six legs. By the depth of the prints, and the fact that the foliage seemed to have been freshly trampled, she deduced that whatever used this trail had been here recently.

"Fascinating", Cassiopeia said, taking a small disc shaped camera from her utility pouch on her belt. She snapped several pictures of the prints before she started to follow in the direction she assumed they were leading. By now she had lost sight of the Time Flyer, but that didn't matter, she didn't plan to go far anyhow and was sure she would be able to locate it.

It was then that Cassiopeia became aware of a noise coming from the distance. Cassiopeia paused and listened, hoping to catch it again. The noise came again, a sort of muted bellowing coming from deeper into the forest, along the direction of the path. Cassiopeia's heart began to pound, she was quite possibly hearing the call of whatever had made these tracks, and though it was far off perhaps, with the correct amount of caution, she might be able to spot…

Cassiopeia heard another bellowing noise, this time coming from behind her and much closer. Cassiopeia froze as she felt the ground beneath her begin to shake as the sound of something large making its way through the foliage came closer.

"Okay, don't panic", Cassiopeia told herself as the bellowing noise came closer. "The key thing is not to panic. There's a good chance this creature isn't hostile, but it never hurts to be safe. It would be prudent to get out of sight, but how?" She looked back to see a large cluster of ferns large enough to hide her. She quickly dove into the cluster, careful to make sure that she was thoroughly covered, just as the creature came into view.

Cassiopeia's eyes went wide as she saw the animal. The creature, which resembled some sort of giant cephalopod, was nearly five meters tall. Six column-like legs supported the large animal, two longer and thinner tentacles nearly three meters in length waved in front of the creature, writhing as they hovered above the ground. The squat mantle of the large land-dwelling cephalopod was a sort of tan color, with orange stripes along it, at its center, above where Cassiopeia could make out two small yellow eyes, was a sort of blue inflated sac which heaved as the creature breathed. The creature then brought its long tentacles towards the sac, cupping the large tips around it as it let out a low bellowing noise, the sac vibrating as noise echoed through the forest. The creature them stopped, seeming to listen as the distant bellow that Cassiopeia heard earlier made its way through the trees. The creature returned the call and began to plod along the path, slowly making its way deeper into the forest.

As soon as she was sure that the creature was far enough away, Cassiopeia crawled out of the ferns. She watched as the massive cephalopod continued through the forest, occasionally bellowing out its call to the other creature deeper in the forest.

"What an amazing creature", Cassiopeia said. "But what is it?" From her pouch she took out a small handheld device, a HoloDat. The small device, a little larger than her hand, contained within its databanks all the information that the temporal probes had captured about the major fauna and flora nearly a hundred years ago, identifying the organisms with the names that zoologists had given them. Pressing a button near the devices bottom Cassiopeia said, "Search for large cephalopods, Norther Forests, two-hundred million AD."

The device chirped as a small holographic image of the creature appeared. "Megasquid", the HoloDat said. "These large terrasquids, weighing up to eight tons, are the largest land animal of their era. With plenty of available food and with the absence of predators they do not require a large brain, which is speculated to weigh only a pound. Their omnivorous diet consists mainly of low hanging fruit, shoots, and smaller terrasquids such as the squibbon."

"Fascinating", Cassiopeia said, pocketing the HoloDat. "But what is a squibbon? Perhaps I shall see one before Visocod…"

"Commander, what are you doing out here?"

Cassiopeia jumped, letting out a startled cry. She turned to see Visocod Y hovering before her, its spindly arms crossed in front of its chest.

"Oh, it is you, Visocod Y", Cassiopeia said. "I just thought it would be a good idea to survey the nearby forest before we had to depart."

"Not necessary", Visocod Y said. "I have already scouted this area. Let us return to the ship so that we may review the data I have collected."

Cassiopeia sighed. "Very well, Visocod, let's… hey, what's that?"

From the canopy above Cassiopeia could hear a sort of warbled chittering from among the branches. She looked up, just in time to see several smaller terrasquids perched in the trees, hanging from the branches with four long tentacles.

"Incredible", Cassiopeia said as she brought the HoloDat out. Pressing a button, a holographic display of one of the creatures came up, a small thing, a large portion of its body length comprised of its four tentacles, its dome shaped mantle covering the animal with two long eyestalks peeping forward. "Highly evolved terrasquids with the natural dexterity of gibbons. These creatures are known as squibbons, perhaps the most intelligent species of future earth. No further data available."

So, these were squibbons. Cassiopeia looked up at the terrasquids, and it seemed to her that they were looking back, chittering excitedly as if they were conversing about the strange two-legged creature before them. "Visocod, wait here. I will investigate these creatures more closely."

"Not advisable, commander", Visocod Y stated, coming between Cassiopeia and the tree in which the squibbons perched. My sensors indicate potential danger, allow me." With that Visocod began to levitate upwards towards the tree branch.

Cassiopeia watched as the robot neared the branch. As the robot came closer to the creatures, she heard what seemed to be warbled laughter as Visocod cried out in alarm. Cassiopeia watched as the robot dropped out of the tree, arms waving to remove a single squibbon that had jumped onto its head, tentacles wrapped around the robot's body. Visocod Y began to warble indistinctively, trying and failing to grab the creature attached to its head as the squibbon warbled with glee. Spinning helplessly, Visocod cried out as it crashed into a tree, dropping to the ground with a clunk. The squibbon whacked the robot with its front tentacles, trying to get a response from the robot, but getting none, he jumped off the robot's head and onto the ground. He then turned his attention to Cassiopeia.

Cassiopeia stared down at the creature as it bounced excitedly where he stood, four paddle-like vestigial tentacles flapping excitedly as the squibbon regarded the human. Finally, Cassiopeia crouched down and carefully reached out a hand towards the creature. The squibbon looked at the hand for a few seconds before reaching out with its front tentacles, wrapping them around Cassiopeia's hand. She giggled as she felt the damp tentacles cling to her, their suckers lightly kissing her skin. The squibbon responded with a giggle of its own as it jumped up and wrapped his tentacles around Cassiopeia's abdomen as if to give her a hug. Cassiopeia looked down into the eyes of the squibbon, which were surprisingly large and almost childlike. Finally, Cassiopeia gently pried the squibbon off of her and set it on the ground.

"It was very nice meeting you, little squibbon", Cassiopeia stated. "But I must go now, good bye."

The squibbon gave a chortling reply and ran off into the trees, the leaves rustling as it went. Cassiopeia watched until she could no longer see the creature anymore before returning her attention to Visocod.

"Visocod,are you alright", Cassiopeia asked, placing a hand on the dented casing of the robot where it had crashed into the tree.

The robot suddenly shot up, causing Cassiopeia to jump back as it flailed its arms. It looked around, before looking back to Cassiopeia. "Self-diagnostics report no major damage."

"Good", Cassiopeia said. "Now, um, would you by any chance know which direction the ship would be?"

"Affirmative", Visocod Y said as it turned towards the direction of the Time Flyer. "This way, commander."

Cassiopeia followed the robot through the foliage back towards the direction of the Time Flyer. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to either her or Visocod, two eyes were watching them leave. As soon as they were far enough away, the creature began to follow, uttering a warbled giggle as it went.

. . . . .

"Closing hatch", Cassiopeia said as the Time Flyer's engines came to life. "Prepare for vortex entry."

Cassiopeia prepared to lift the ship into the air as a ringing noise filled the air as Suroc announced, "Abort takeoff, unknown carbon-based lifeform detected in crew quarters."

"What?" Cassiopeia said, puzzled. Another living thing was on board the ship. How could that be, she was the only human on board, unless, of course, an animal had sneaked aboard the timeship before she had closed the hatch. But the question was, what creature was it?

Cassiopeia made her way to the doors leading to the crew quarters, Nelnut, Suroc, and Visocod Y following close behind her. The doors slid open as she cautiously made her way into the rear of the ship, the sound of something rummaging through a drawer could be heard as they got closer.

"What in the world?" Cassiopeia asked, looking towards the galley as small items were tossed around around the corner of the doorframe.

"Stand back, commander", Visocod Y said as it hovered in front of her. "I shall engage the intruder with my laser restraints."

"No!" Cassiopeia whispered, grabbing the robot by the shoulder. "We will not use force until we know exactly what or who is back there."

With that Cassiopeia creeped closer towards the galley. The sound of rummaging was louder now, and Cassiopeia could also hear what sounded like… warbled giggling. She peered into the galley and was surprised to see the squibbon she had encountered in the forest rummaging through a drawer. The terrasquid turned toward her and let out a delighted warble at the sight of Cassiopeia.

Cassiopeia let out a small chuckle. "Oh, it's you. No need to be alarmed, it is just a squibbon. It must have snuck onboard before I could close the hatch." She watched as the squibbon took out a small object from the drawer, letting out a soft put as it investigated it. "Fascinating, that suggests an inquisitive mind at work."

"Having an animal aboard is a clear violation of mission regulations", Nelnut pointed out.

"I am aware of the rules", Cassiopeia said as the squibbon continued to rummage through the drawer. "I shall escort the squibbon from the ship."

"Commander", Suroc said. "As animal behavior authority allow me to intervene." The robot proceeded to slowly move towards the small animal, slowly starting to reach out towards him. The squibbon turned just in time to see the green robot reaching out for it and let out a panicked scream before jumping onto Suroc, wrapping its tentacles around the robot's head. The force of the impact caused Suroc to fly backwards, spinning out of control. The other two robots tried to intervene but couldn't catch the squibbon as he jumped from robot to robot. Cassiopeia failed to suppress a round of laughter at the display as the ship's computer called out.

"Incoming transmission."

Cassiopeia gasped. She had forgotten that her father would be attempting to contact her. She made her way towards the bridge past the robots, who were still attempting to catch the squibbon, which had now perched atop Nelnut's head.

"Keep the squibbon in here", Cassiopeia ordered.

"But regulations clearly state that all crew members must be present during…" Nelnut objected before Cassiopeia cut the robot off.

"As mission commander, I order you to stay here and play with the squibbon, is that understood? Cassiopeia asked, a stern look upon her face.

"Affirmative commander", the robots said, giving a salute before the doors closed behind her.

Cassiopeia chuckled. Perhaps she should have tried that on the robots earlier, perhaps then Visocod would have allowed her to come along on its scouting mission. She made her way to the helm, a blue light blinking near its center. Cassiopeia pressed the button, upon which a holographic screen appeared with her father on the display.

"Hello, father", Cassiopeia said, a smile on her face.

"Greetings, Cassiopeia", her father replied. "I trust that your journey through the time vortex was pleasant."

"Indeed, father", Cassiopeia continued. "We have arrived safely in the Norther Forests of two-hundred million AD, preparing for our next time jump. Oh, father, you should see it here, it's absolutely beautiful."

Her father let out a chuckle. "I am glad to see that you are enjoying yourself. Now", her father's tone turned serious. "What have you to report?"

"Yes, of course", Cassiopeia said, her mind returning to the data that Visocod had recorded on his scouting excursion. "The Northern Forests seem to cover an area of nearly two million square miles from the northern coast towards the grassy lowlands to the south. The region's near constant rainfall would provide more than adequate fresh water and the nitrogen rich soil would be an excellent medium for growing crops. However, due to the excessive rainfall the area may be unsuitable for construction, though a small mountain range to the east may provide an adequate foundation."

"Interesting", Cassiopeia's father said. "But, you have failed to mention anything about the local animal life."

A thud could be heard from the back of the ship followed by a warbled chuckle. Cassiopeia saw that her father hadn't seemed to notice. "Oh, there is quite a bit of it", she went on. "Out there, of course." Another bang was heard, followed by several electronic voices shouting incoherently.

"And more importantly", her father went on., seeming to be aware of something behind Cassiopeia. "Where is your crew?"

"Oh", Cassiopeia said, looking back towards the door. "They are currently engaged in additional research on local cephalopods." A large crash was heard, followed by more warbled giggles and warbled cries, her father gave Cassiopeia a questioning look. "Oh, sounds like they could use a hand, I'd better go help them, goodbye father."

Before her father could say anything, Cassiopeia cut the connection. She let out a sigh of relief just as the door to the crew's quarters slid open, the squibbon leaping through, running atop the central table as the three robots gave chase. The squibbon ran to Cassiopeia and wrapped its legs around her, warbling up at her.

Cassiopeia sighed. "Quite the little trouble maker, aren't you?" She then turned to the robots. "Continue with time jump preparations, I shall personally remove the squibbon from the ship."

The robots stopped and looked at each other. At last Nelnut said, "Affirmative", as they made their way to their posts.

Cassiopeia knelt to the squibbon, carefully extending her hand as she did before. "Come along now, little evolved squid, I am afraid that you cannot come with us", she said. The squibbon extended a tentacle and held on the human's hand, beginning to follow as she led him towards the cargo bay. Just before they left the bridge, however, the squibbon turned around, his attention drawn to something. Cassiopeia looked down just in time to see the squibbon release her hand and make a dash for the helm, just as the engine began to power up.

"Wait, little squibbon, no!" cried Cassiopeia as the squibbon hopped into the helm's seat and began to play with the icons on the hard-light interface, giggling happily as he did. "Quick, cut the engines before…" she had said, before being cut off as she found herself sliding as the ship quickly began to ascend and fly off through the air. The squibbon chortled as he continued to make the ship go faster.

"Vortex entry imminent", the ships onboard computer announced as the thrumming of the engines reached their peak, the air around the Time Flyer beginning to ripple. "Destination…"

With a crack the Time Flyer entered the vortex, careening as the squibbon piloted the vessel, chortling gleefully as Cassiopeia and the robots were tossed about.

"Commander", Nelnut announced from his post, attempting to steady itself. "We have entered an uncharted wormhole. Destination, unknown!"

Cassiopeia grabbed onto the chair of the helm, steadying herself as the squibbon continued to pilot the Time Flyer through the vortex. The color of the vortex was different here, a dark red almost the color of dried blood. Plasma discharges coursed through the vortex, striking the ship as it flew through them, the ship shuddering with each strike. One discharge, larger than the others, struck the vessel with a boom, causing an explosion of sparks as it conducted through the hull. Cassiopeia screamed as she lost her hold of the chair and was thrown to the back of the bridge, hitting the wall with a thud. She groaned as she looked up to see the robots being hit by the discharge, sparks erupting from their power packs as they began to convulse, flying wildly about the bridge, bumping into walls and into each other as the screamed incoherently.

Cassiopeia found herself breathing heavily now. Looking out the window she could see the vortex turn black. A roaring noise could be heard from outside the ship's hull as the engines began to scream with the stress they were currently under. The room began to spin as Cassiopeia stared out into that terrible darkness, her heart pounding, blood draining from her face. The excitement that she had felt was long forgotten now, lost to the centuries as they passed by the out of control timeship, the only thing she felt now was a sense of terror building up inside of her, worst than the terror she thought she felt in her dorm at the academy, oh how she wished she were there. No, this terror was worst than anything she had ever experienced as a white light filled the window, blinding her as this dread took over her, the growing dread that she was about to die.

"Forgive me, father", Cassiopeia whispered, a single tear rolling down her face.

Meanwhile, from the helm, the squibbon continued to utter its warbling giggle.


	5. Close Encounter with the Future Kind

**Chapter Four: Close Encounter with the Future Kind**

. June 9th, 2007 AD.

During the day, Riverdale Park West was a popular spot for the people of the neighborhood of North St. James Town. The park, a large patch of wooded land situated on either side of the Don River, was an Eden of sorts amongst the urban sprawl of Toronto. Here, people could walk amongst the trees of the park whilst the children of the neighborhood and local baseball teams could play in one of the four large sand fields on either side of the park. However, from sundown to sunrise, the park was as still and silent as the neighboring Necropolis Cemetery.

This was precisely what Luis was hoping for as he and his two friends made their way into the park, his rocket nestled inside an old red Radio Flyer wagon.

Luis looked down at his watch, the green digital displaying 5:58 a.m. Right on schedule, the boy thought as they made their way to the designated launchpad Luis had selected a few days earlier. He looked up into the morning sky, the golden rays if the rising sun shining over the treetops, streaks of high altitude clouds overhead, but, to his delight, no contrails.

 _Good_ , Luis smiled, everything was going exactly as planned. In the days leading up to the launch of his rocket, which Luis had dubbed the _Triad_ for the three who were about to launch it, Luis gone over every possible factor: weather, windspeed, and even air traffic patterns. From his research, he had deduced that this day was the best possible time to launch the _Triad_ , and so far, everything pointed to this conclusion.

"Hey, nerd", came the voice of Ethan, who straggled at the back of the group, the rocket and wagon in tow. "How much further?"

"Just over this rise", Luis said. "There's a clearing over there."

"Isn't this exciting, Ethan?", Emily said, the redhead trotting next to Luis up the hill.

"Sure", Ethan said, a long yawn escaping him. "Real excited here."

Luis shook his head. He had woken up at a little before five-thirty, just before the sun had begun to rise, and made final preparations on the rocket. At five-thirty-six Emily had arrived to help Luis, but Ethan had yet to show up, leaving her and Luis to heave the heavy rocket into the wagon. They had had to go to Ethan's house, where they found him still asleep. A few taps on his bedroom window had aroused the sleeping giant, who begrudgingly got dressed and joined the two; Luis had then charged him with pulling the wagon to the park.

The three finally arrived at the clearing. The clearing was fairly small, about ten meters long by two wide. A thick wall of oak and maples surrounded them, which Luis had hoped would create an adequate sound barrier for the launch. Luis scanned the sandy clearing, looking for a level area to place the rocket. Upon finding a spot he thought was suitable, he dragged the heel of his shoe into the dirt, creating an 'X' mark.

"Here", he said, pointing to the 'X'. "Big E?"

"Right", Ethan said, carefully lifting the rocket from the wagon.

Luis placed the rocket's launch pad on the ground above the 'X'. Upon ensuring that it was secure, he helped Ethan maneuver the rocket onto the pad. With the _Triad_ in place, Luis made one last check of the rocket to ensure everything was ready for launch.

 _Only one shot at this_ , Luis thought. _Gotta make sure everything…_

"Hey, Luis", Ethan said, another yawn escaping him. "Can you hurry it up there?"

Luis rolled his eyes at the larger boy's impatience. "Almost ready", he said as he attached the wire of the launch remote to the rocket.

Ethan yawned again. "Dude, this thing had better blow up, wipe out, or do something cool."

"Wait Luis!", Emily said, looking up at the sky. "Don't launch until you're sure there are no birds in the flight path."

"Alright", Luis announced. "All systems are green, _Triad_ is a-go." He backed away from the rocket, joining the others at the edge of the clearing under the trees. "Countdown commencing in T-minus ten, nine, eight, seven, six…"

"Just launch already", Ethan said.

With that Luis pressed the button on the remote. A low rumbling noise came from the rocket as smoke poured out the bottom, growing thicker as the rumbling rose to a roar. With a flash of flame the rocket shot up over their heads, leaving a trail of grey smoke as it rose higher into the sky.

"Look at it go!" Emily said, hands cupped over her eyes as she watched the rocket begin to disappear.

Luis beamed, everything had gone perfectly. He watched as the _Triad_ began its ascent, carrying its precious cargo with it. Soon he and his friends would return to the garage where they would, hopefully, be able to pinpoint the satellite's location above the Earth, where it would then transmit photographs that it took from its vantage point. Now all that remained was to get Ethan…

"Hey, what's that?" Emily asked, pointing up at the sky.

Luis looked and was shocked at what he saw. Up above them, around where the rocket was approaching, the air seemed as though it were rippling, a red glow emanating from its center. He and the others flinched as a loud cracking sound filled the air, a bright light filling the sky as a large object emerged and collided with the rocket, causing the small projectile to explode into a large puff of black smoke. The object continued forward, beginning to fall as it did. The treetops whipped as the object flew overhead, the resulting wake causing dust and leaves to fly about the three teenagers below it as it flew out of sight. A large thud could be heard from beyond the trees, presumably from the object as it touched down.

"Oh my God, dude", Ethan said, eyes glued to the dissipating cloud of smoke from where the object had collided with the rocket. "Did you see that!"

"What was that thing?" Emily asked, looking through the trees in the direction the object had landed.

"I-I don't know", Luis stammered, staring up at the sky, his mind racing to process what had just happened. "The rocket wasn't supposed to turn the sky into liquid fireworks!" _Then again_ , he thought ruefully. _It wasn't supposed to have exploded either._

"Come on", Ethan said, running towards the trees. "Let's go check it out!"

Luis and Emily followed Ethan into the trees and down the slope that lead towards the larger clearing below. The three reached the edge of the clearing and stopped, starring at the object that lay in the field before them. The object appeared to be some sort of craft, measuring about forty feet in length from tip to tip. The greyish-blue hull, which sported a few black marks across its surface, dimly reflected the morning light as smoke rose from two wing-like structures at its back; to Luis, the object seemed to resemble some sort of large beetle.

"Cool", Ethan exclaimed, eyes wide as he looked at the object. "Luis, I think your rocket just brought down a UFO!"

"Great", Luis said, his eyes fixed on the object. "I'm in trouble with aliens now."

"Guys", Emily said. "There could be someone hurt in there, we have to help them."

"Em's right", Ethan said. "Come on!"

"Wait!" Luis called out, hand reaching out futilely as the two ran towards the object. "We can't just go running up to a… oh, what the heck?" He soon found himself running across the field towards the crashed object, a smell reminiscent of a burnt electrical socket and machine oil filling the air as he got closer.

The three stood before the object, which was much bigger now that they were closer to it. They began to walk around the craft, looking for anything that might be an exit for whoever, or whatever, was inside. They eventually made their way to the back of the craft where they located what appeared to be some sort of hatch, still closed.

"Alright, now what?" Luis asked, looking over to Emily.

"Its obvious", Ethan said. "We knock on the door and see if anyone's home."

Luis gave Ethan an annoyed look as Emily began to move closer to the craft. "Hello, is anyone in there?"

A hiss could be heard as the hatch began to open. Emily jumped back, rejoining the others as a cloud of smoke poured out from within the hatch. Suddenly, from inside the craft, they heard what sounded like a deep electronic scream as a robot, yellow in coloration, zipped out of the craft and across the field here it proceeded to crash into a tree, a loud clank ringing through the air as it hit the ground.

The three looked over at the robot before returning their attention to the craft at the sound of footsteps. The three watched as someone in a blue jumpsuit peered out through the hatch and slowly made its way down a ramp that had extended. To the group's surprise they saw that the person was a girl of around sixteen with tan skin, auburn hair pulled up in a ponytail sat atop her head with what appeared to be blue markings around her bangs.

"Whoa", Luis said. Despite the situation he couldn't help but acknowledge how attractive the girl was, even if she was an alien.

At this the girl's head snapped towards the three, her large eyes widening as she caught sight of the three teenagers. Her mouth, which seemed to be somewhat smaller than the average human's, hung open as she looked on.

"Someone say something", Emily said, directing a reassuring smile towards the girl.

"Right", Luis said, his mind racing with possible things to say. While he had always entertained the thought of making first contact with extraterrestrials, figuring that he would make some sort of speech for the visitors, he found himself at a loss for words. Finally, mustering a welcoming smile, he settled for, "Hello, welcome to Canada!"

. . . . .

A reverberating crack filled Cassiopeia's ears as the world shuddered around her. In the distance, she could vaguely hear the sound of roaring turbines followed by a thud as something large settled on the ground. Then all was silent, the only sound a distant humming.

Cassiopeia groaned, her eyes fluttering open as the world came into focus. She found herself slumped on the floor against the back wall of the bridge, the acrid scent of smoke hung faintly in the air. Slowly she began to rise on shaky legs and made her way towards the large table in the center of the room, catching herself on a chair as her knees buckled from a wave of dizziness. She gradually began to orient herself as her head cleared, and as she did she came to a startling realization. She was alive. Despite the Time Flyer careening into an unknown wormhole and sustaining some damage, she had survived the ordeal.

Now all she had to do was figure out where, and most importantly when, she was.

A familiar warbling sound from the helm caught Cassiopeia's attention. She looked just in time to see a pair of eyestalks rise above the seat followed by the body of the squibbon.

"Squibbon!" Cassiopeia said, amazed that the cephalopod had survived the crash.

A gleeful chortle emanated from the terrasquid as he clambered over the chair and bounded towards Cassiopeia, bouncing excitedly at the girl's feet.

"What were you thinking?" Cassiopeia exclaimed, anger in her voice, causing the squibbon to flinch. "Do you have any idea what you could've done? You could have jeopardized my entire mission, if not the fate of all humanity!"

A remorseful warble escaped the squibbon, his eyestalks and tentacles drooping. Cassiopeia sighed, a twinge of guilt overcoming her at the display.

"There now", Cassiopeia said, extending a hand out to the squibbon. "No real harm done."

The squibbon gleefully grabbed the hand with a tentacle and climbed up around Cassiopeia's abdomen in a hug, causing her to chuckle. "Now, to find out where we are."

Cassiopeia walked over to the helm and waved her hand over the consol. A whining sound could be heard as the hard-light display flickered on.

"Computer", Cassiopeia said. "Pinpoint current location and time."

"Unable to comply", the computer replied. "Self-repair in progress, please standby."

Cassiopeia sighed, turning her eyes to the bridge. The smoke that had filled the room had now cleared, the ventilators having purified the air as the Time Flyer's self-repair program took effect. Her eyes swept down to the floor and saw the three robots sprawled on the deck, sparks jumping from their casings.

 _So, I'm on my own then_ , Cassiopeia thought. While she had been trained to handle all the aspects of the mission, she did not find the prospect of continuing the mission alone appealing. But now was not the time to focus on that, now she had to figure out where she was and to assess the situation.

Her mind went back to her days in the academy, to a lesson that Professor Shu had drilled into her head as a failsafe in case of a situation just like this: be aware of your surroundings, keep interaction with anyone to a minimum, leave no trace behind.

She made her way to the front window. Outside was a wooded area on the fringes of a large sandy clearing. Beyond the trees, Cassiopeia could make out the outlines of skyscrapers against an early morning sky.

"So, we're in the human era", Cassiopeia said, looking down at the squibbon around her waist. "Apparently before the freeze. But which century is it?"

The squibbon warbled, as if to indicate he was unsure.

"I suppose we should go outside and see if we can't gather and further information", Cassiopeia suggested.

"N-n-n-not nessssssss-sary c-c-commander", an accented robotic voice said.

From the end of the bridge, Cassiopeia saw Visocod Y rising from the floor. Its yellow eye flickered as sparks jumper from the robot's casing, its stubby fingers fidgeting as it did.

"Visocod", Cassiopeia said as the robot floated forward. "How are you?"

"All system o-o-operating at mmmmmmmm-full capacity", the robot announced, giving a jerky salute. "R-ready for d-d-duty."

Cassiopeia looked the robot over warily. While it was obvious that it was not operating at full capacity, it was still functioning and could perhaps aid her in finding out where and when she was.

"Visocod", Cassiopeia said, putting on her best authoritative voice. "We have emerged in an unknown time period. Our vessel has sustained some damage and is unable to verify our location, therefor we must assume we are in a primitive human era. You are to go out and scout the area for any information on our whereabouts. Are you up to this task?"

"Af-f-f-firative, commander", Visocod said, turning to the door out of the bridge.

Cassiopeia began to follow the robot, before looking down at her waist and the squibbon who was wrapped around it. She gently pulled the terrasquid off her and placed it on the ground. "Squibbon, you must remain on the ship until I return", she said and turned to leave the bridge. The warbled sound of the squibbon caught her attention as she looked down to see the creature following her, his vestigial paddle-like tentacles flapping excitedly.

"Squibbon", Cassiopeia said, this time in a sterner tone. "Stay here!"

The squibbon gave what looked like a nod and crouched on the ground with his tentacles underneath him, almost like a dog sitting on its haunches.

Cassiopeia gave a satisfied smile. "Good", she said and left the bridge. She found that the ladder leading to the cargo bay had been extended and climbed down into the belly of the Time Flyer. Light smoke still hung in the air of the cargo bay, the ventilators having not gotten this far into the ship. Near the hatch she could see Visocod Y waiting for her.

"Alright", Cassiopeia said as she made her way to the control panel to open the door. "Now we have to minimize the chances of our being spotted. Though I doubt we haven't already been spotted yet, we must still proceed with the utmost caution."

"Affirmative, commander", Visocod Y replied. "Engaging stealth mo-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh!"

Cassiopeia gasped as she saw an explosion of sparks erupt from the robot's back, its long arms flailing as an electronic scream poured from its speaker. Before she could act, she saw the hatch of the cargo bay open, giving the berserk robot a chance to escape as it disappeared into the unknown world beyond, screaming as it went. In the distance, Cassiopeia could hear the distant clank of metal as the robot collided with something.

"Oh no", Cassiopeia said as she began to make her way towards the pen hatch. By now the smoke had cleared, giving her a view of what lay beyond the vessel. The landscape appeared like one of the enclosed parklands back in her own time, the kind that children would gather to play each other in hoverball or other physical activity Cassiopeia never got into. Cautiously she walked onto the gangplank, the cool morning air hitting her face. In the distance she could see Visocod Y laying on the grass under a tree, apparently having collided with it as it dashed out. Now all that remained was the task of retrieving the robot and bringing it back onboard…

"Whoa", a voice said.

Cassiopeia's head jerked in the direction of the voice. Her eyes widened at the sight of three humans standing a few feet away from the cargo bay entrance, two males and one female. One of the males was large and muscular with yellow hair, his attire consisting of a yellow shirt and tan khakis. The other male, a head shorter than the first, had a crop of black hair, his skin tone a shade or two darker than her own, wearing a grey shirt with the emblem of a rudely drawn skull. The female, the shortest of the group, even shorter than Cassiopeia herself, had a head of vibrant red hair in two braids, a light green shirt and yellow pant adorning her body. The three, who all seemed to be around her age, stared at her with wide eyes.

 _So much for minimizing interaction_ , Cassiopeia thought. It was then that the female smiled and said something in a language that Cassiopeia couldn't understand; possibly some primitive tongue.

 _At least they have developed language_ , Cassiopeia mused. Just then the dark-haired boy said something in a welcoming tone, almost like some sort of greeting. They were trying to communicate with her.

Cassiopeia sighed. While she knew that mission protocol dictated that she should try and minimize the contact already, she was in an interesting situation. She had no idea where she was, and her crew was incapacitated, she needed help and perhaps these humans could help her, or at least give her an idea of when she was. But, there was the issue of the language barrier. From a pouch on her belt she produced a small earpiece, one of the fail safes for such an event. She quickly placed the device into her ear, a low whine sounding as the device activated.

"Um, hello?" the female said, giving a small wave. Cassiopeia gasped as she heard the words, the alien tongue coming out of the girl's mouth but the meaning behind the words trickling into her brain.

"Hello", Cassiopeia said, raising her right hand in a greeting.

It was at that moment that the large boy with opened his mouth as if to say something, only to be interrupted by the redhead. "Ethan, say nothing", she said, to which the boy gave an annoyed grimace.

"Could you please tell me where I have landed?" Cassiopeia asked.

The dark-haired boy looked over to the redhead, giving a small nod. At this she stepped forward, raising her right hand, her forefinger and middle finger spread in an odd v-shaped sign. "Welcome to planet Earth. Peace."

"Yes", Cassiopeia said, stepping off the gangplank and onto the grass below. "I know I am on Earth. But what time period am I in, if you don't mind my asking."

At this the dark-haired boy stepped forward. "It's the twenty-first century, two-thousand seven to be exact", he said.

Twenty-first century. The words swirled around in Cassiopeia's mind, panic beginning to well up inside her. She had traveled over ten thousand years into the past, before humans had discovered a feasible means of time travel, let alone a means of interplanetary transit. "Oh no", Cassiopeia moaned, clutching her hair as she began to pace nervously. "Father will no be pleased. No, he'll be furious! Furious!"

"Why", the larger boy said, walking towards the Time Flyer. "Is this your dad's space shuttle or something?"

"No", Cassiopeia said, combing her fingers through her hair. "This is not a space craft, it is a Time Flyer. And I have managed to travel backwards to an ancient that, most likely, doesn't have a time-space vortex map I can borrow. Do you?"

"Sorry, can't help you there", the dark-haired boy said, scratching his head. "But I got an A in physics last semester if that helps."

Cassiopeia sighed. "No but thank you. Oh, this is bad, how am I ever going to get out of here?"

As warbling sound followed by a scream from the large boy caught the attention of the three. On top of the boy's head the squibbon had perched itself and wrapped its tentacles around his head, a delighted giggle emanating as the boy flailed frantically.

"Get it off!" he shouted, hands swatting at his head to get the creature off.

"Squibbon!" Cassiopeia shouted. The terrasquid looked over to Cassiopeia and jumped off the boy's head, bouncing happily. "I thought I told you to stay in the ship!"

"What is that thing?" the large boy asked, tenderly rubbing his head to check for injury.

"Aww", the redhead said, crouching down to get a better look at the creature. "It's so cute."

"Hardly the words I'd use", the dark-haired boy remarked, to which the redhead shot an annoyed at him.

"That", Cassiopeia said, picking the terrasquid up. "Is a terrasquid from two-hundred million years in the future. A squibbon to be precise."

"Squibbon", the girl echoed, reaching out a hand to pet the creature's green mantle. At the redhead's touch the squibbon uttered a soft cooing sound and immediately jumped from Cassiopeia's grip and into the girl's arms, warbling happily as it did. "I think he likes me, don't you little squibby?"

"Squibby?" Cassiopeia said, perplexed at the cutesy moniker that the girl had given the terrasquid.

"She gives pet names to almost every animal she meets", the large boy said. "You'll get used to it."

"Wait", the dark-haired boy said. "So, you mean to tell me you are from the future?"

"Well, yes, I am", Cassiopeia said, rubbing her arm. "And I have officially broken every rule in my mission handbook for even talking to you."

"Hey, rules are made for breaking", the large boy said, leaning against the hull of the Time Flyer.

Cassiopeia rolled her eyes. "Despite this, I need your help. One of my robotic crew had ran off and I need to retrieve it."

"Oh, you mean the thing that ran into that tree over there", asked the dark-haired boy.

"Yes", Cassiopeia said. "You wouldn't mind helping me retrieve it, would you?"

"Sure", the dark-haired boy replied. "Come on Ethan, lend a hand."

"Sure", the large boy, Ethan, replied as they four made their way towards the robot across the field.

"So", the redhead said, walking up to Cassiopeia. "We never got your name."

"Oh", Cassiopeia said, not breaking her stride. "Forgive me. I am Cassiopeia G."

"That's a pretty name", the redhead said. "My name's Emily, the skinny boy next to you is Luis and the large lug behind you is Ethan."

"Hello", Cassiopeia said, giving a wave to the two boys. By then the group had reached the robot, a large dent had formed in it's casing. Cassiopeia knelt to the robot and inspected it, sighing as she did. "Great, its completely fried."

"Maybe I could help", Luis said, kneeling beside Cassiopeia. "I'm pretty good with robotics."

"No offense", Cassiopeia said. "But this may be a bit advanced for you."

"I'll take that as a challenge", Luis said, a smirk spreading across his face.

"Hey nerd, how about less yapping and more lifting?" Ethan said, crouching to get a grip on the robot.

"Oh, right", Luis said as he grabbed the opposite end of the robot. With a grunt the two boys lifted the robot above the ground and began to move it back towards the Time Flyer.

"So, you're from the future, huh?" Ethan said.

"Yes", Cassiopeia said, not making eye contact with the boy. "The year twelve thousand three-hundred sixty-seven to be exact."

"Cool", Ethan said. "What's it like?"

Cassiopeia thought carefully on what her next word should be. She had already contaminated the timestream enough by even talking to these primitives, she couldn't risk doing any more damage. Finally, she said, "Cold. Very cold."

"Huh", said Luis. "I'd have thought it'd be warmer."

"It was", Cassiopeia said. "But we alleviated that problem, perhaps too well."

At last they arrived back to the Time Flyer. Ethan and Luis carefully placed the robot against the wall on the back of the cargo bay, wiping sweat as they did.

"There you are", Luis said. "One robot delivered."

"Thank you, uh, Luis", Cassiopeia said, giving a smile. "Now, I would kindly ask you all to please leave my ship and not discuss this meeting with anyone."

In the distance a wailing sound could be heard. Cassiopeia and the others looked out the cargo bay as the sound got closer, the sound of spinning rotors drawing nearer above them as the wailing got closer.

"Uh oh", Luis said. "I think your landing may have gained some attention from the police."

"Oh no", Cassiopeia groaned. "And the ship isn't functional yet. How can this get any worse?"

"Self-repair protocol completed", the voice of the computer. "All systems at one-hundred percent efficiency."

Cassiopeia let out a sigh of relief. Perhaps things were going her way after all. However, this sentiment didn't last as an alarm blared within the cargo bay. "Proximity alert. Time Flyer has arrived in pre-time travel era. Initiating retreat protocol", the computer said.

With that the hatch to the cargo bay closed, sealing the four inside teens and the squibbon inside. A low thrumming sound filled the air as the Time Flyer's engines came online.

"Oh no", Cassiopeia said as she rushed towards the ladder. "No, no, no, no, no."

"Cassiopeia", Emily asked, clutching the squibbon in her arms. "What's going on."

"Quickly, climb up", Cassiopeia called down. "We are about to enter an emergency vortex entry, you may want to secure yourselves."

With that the three clambered up the ladder after Cassiopeia, the squibbon holding on to Emily's back. Reaching the upper deck, they followed the future girl through a sliding door and into a large room like a bridge from a science fiction show. Cassiopeia was seated in a large chair in front of what seemed to be the helm, frantically waving her hands over a console that showed red lights. Out the large convex windows they could see the ground beginning to disappear below the Time Flyer as the vessel climbed into the air. In front of the vessel the air seemed to ripple, electricity crackling as the thrumming of the engines grew louder.

"I can't gain control of the helm", Cassiopeia said. "Brace for vortex entry."

"Cassiopeia", Luis said as he took a seat around the large central table. "Where are we going?"

"The question is not where", Cassiopeia said. "The question is when."

With that a loud crack filled the air as the world outside gave way to a vast tunnel of blue as the Time Flyer entered the time vortex.


	6. Chapter 5: Salt

**Chapter Five: Salt**

June 11, 12,367 A.D.

"I'm sorry, sir, we still have not detected any trace of the Time Flyer", the technician reported, hands clasped in front of her body.

Cedric G let out a sigh. "Keep trying", he said, a large hand over his mouth to hide a grimace. "I apologize for disturbing you."

The technician gave a nod and left the small office, closing the glass door behind her. With the technician gone, Cedric G allowed himself to let out a forlorn groan as he slumped into a nearby chair, his fingers massaging his temples. He glanced up through the glass front of his office out to the control room of the Temporal Exploration Guild's control room, the floor abuzz with activity as it had been for the last two days since the Time Flyer had disappeared from their screens.

Cedric G. shook his head as he remembered the events of that day. He remembered the last transmission Cassiopeia had sent, the first of the mission, and how she had abruptly ended the call. It was then that they had detected the Time Flyer entering the time vortex out of two hundred million years A.D. before suddenly disappearing. A stunned silence filled the control room as everyone starred at the screen where the red dot indicating the Time Flyer's location in the time-space continuum had once been before a buzz of confused voices filled the room.

Cedric had stood dumbfounded as he saw the last indication of his only daughter disappear. He barely heard the technicians ask him what their next course of action should be. At this Cedric snapped out of his trance, instructing that a transmission be sent on all temporal bandwidths and that every corner of the time-space continuum be searched. He even ordered historians to look over historical documents in the hopes of finding mention of anything remotely like the Time Flyer to try and pinpoint a possible location.

But now, after two days, there was still no word of the Time Flyer or Cassiopeia. Cedric turned away from the control room, adjusting the glass's opacity to block the room from his sight. Now isolated in his office, he turned to the window looking over the snow-covered cityscape before him. He let out a breath, leaving a circle of condensation as he did, and watched the windswept snow whip across the mountainous city, the lights of a thousand windows shining through the frosty haze like fireflies from the enclosed parkland in the city's center.

Despite himself, he found himself chuckling as he remembered a time when he and Cassiopeia had gone to the parkland one evening when she was six. For nearly the entire time she had tried futilely to catch the glowing insects in her hands, her brow furrowed with determination after each failed attempt. She had been thrilled when Cedric had managed to snag one in his hands, peeking into the cracks of his fingers to see the faint green glow as the insect flew about inside its new confines before Cedric let it go. He remembered sitting against a large oak tree with Cassiopeia in his arms, a warm breeze rustling the leaves as his daughter drifted off to sleep…

Cedric shook his head and was surprised to feel a stray tear rolling down his cheek before disappearing into his beard. _Get a hold of yourself, dammit_ , he scolded himself. _She's fine. Cassiopeia is fine._

It was then that his thoughts went to his wife. While he himself had never been a religious man, his wife had been a devotee to the Church of Soter, one of the many religious sects that had formed with the onset of the Freeze. He remembered her often kneeling at the small altar she had set up in their bedroom, praying for the safety of her family and other matters. Cedric had never prayed before, he had never been taught and never bothered to learn, but there in his office he uttered the best prayer he could.

"Please", he whispered to anyone who was listening. "Please, let her be safe."

It was then that a knocking at his door roused from his thoughts. Opening the door, he saw the technician from earlier standing there, an excited gleam in her eyes.

"Sir", she said. "I believe we found something."

. . . . .

October 15, 5,036,457 A.D.

"Emergency vortex exit", the computer announced as the Time Flyer emerged from the time vortex. The chaotic blue of the vortex gave way to cloudless cerulean skies with a flash as the timeship began to descend upon the ground below. The thrum of the engines began to die down as the Time Flyer settled down onto the flat ground, white dust swirling around the vessel as it settled with a thud.

At the helm Cassiopeia let out a sigh of relief. Despite her best efforts she had been unable to regain control of the Time Flyer, the console locked in the timeship's retreat protocol. It wasn't until the Time Flyer emerged from the time vortex that the helm's controls were unlocked, giving her the ability to land the vessel safely.

Cassiopeia swiveled her chair around to face her passengers. In chairs around the table in the middle of the room Ethan, Emily, and Luis were seated, unsure expressions on their faces.

"Is everyone alright?" Cassiopeia asked.

"Yeah, we're fine", Emily said, stroking the squibbon's mantle, the terrasquid chittering nervously.

"Where are we?" Luis asked, getting up from his seat.

"That is… a good question", Cassiopeia said as she rose from her seat and made her way to the center table. On a console at the table's end she pressed a button, causing the black dome at the center of the table to glow blue. "Computer, pinpoint geological and chronological position."

"Calculating", the computer replied, a holographic map of the world materializing above the table. "Location: Mediterranean salt flats, five million years A.D."

"Salt flats?" Ethan said. "I may be no geography whiz, but I'm pretty sure the Mediterranean is an ocean."

"Maybe once", Cassiopeia said as the hologram faded away. "But a lot of time has passed since then."

"Right", Ethan said, nodding his head absentmindedly. "Now, would you mind telling us what exactly happened back there?"

"Well", Cassiopeia said. "I assume that the Time Flyer projected that it was in an era before time travel was invented, along with it's external sensors detecting the authorities approaching, and made an emergency time jump in an attempt to prevent discovery."

"And we came along for the ride", Luis added.

"Yes", Cassiopeia said, clutching her arm. "But, not to worry, I believe that I can now return you back to your own time now that I have regained control of the Time Flyer."

"Alright, cool", Luis said as Cassiopeia walked over to the helm.

Cassiopeia returned to the helm and waved her hands over the console. However, instead of the piloting interface, several yellow boxes with the words 'WARNING. ENGINE TEMPERATURE CRITICAL' followed by a steady beeping.

"Uh oh", Cassiopeia said, waving her hands again only to be met with more beeping.

"What do you mean 'uh oh?'" Luis asked walking closer to the helm.

"Um", Cassiopeia said pulling up a diagnostic screen of the Time Flyer's engines. An image of the Time Flyer's engines colored red displayed, a temperature bar flashing red. Cassiopeia gulped. "Well… computer, status on the engines."

"Engine temperature critical", the computer replied. "Guidance system offline. Please standby."

"Ah", Cassiopeia said, a nervous chuckle escaping her lips. "It would seem as if we are stuck."

"Stuck?" Luis asked, an alarmed tone in his voice. "Stuck, as in unable to move?"

"That's the general meaning of stuck, buddy", Ethan said, now joining Luis by the helm, Emily following behind, the squibbon in her arms.

Luis shot an annoyed look towards Ethan as he turned back to Cassiopeia, who was scanning over several holographic displays. "But, Cassiopeia, you mean to tell us that we are stuck here, no moving?"

"Well", Cassiopeia said, desperately looking over the console for anything that would help. However, finding none, she watched as the displays faded and the console went blank save for a large yellow exclamation point in the center of the glass console. She let out a defeated sigh before turning to Luis. "In short, yes."

"Is that a problem?" Emily asked.

"Oh, no. No problem", Cassiopeia replied, taking to her feet, a forced smile on her face. "All we have to do is wait for the engines to cool down and the computer to recalibrate itself. That should only take… Um, computer?"

"Estimated time: thirty-six hours", the computer replied.

"Thirty-six hours", Cassiopeia said. "After that everything should be fine." As Cassiopeia said those words, she could feel her heart pounding as her mind raced with the implications of what had just transpired. She had crashed a state-of-the-art timeship into the distant past, displaced three humans from that era, possibly contaminating the timeline, and had now managed to strand them in the middle of a salt flat five million years in the future. While she could return her unintended passengers to their own time as well as the squibbon, there was the matter of her mission, and with her robot crew disabled along with her current situation, she would have a difficult time explaining this to the Guild. No, the Guild _and_ her father.

"Um, Cassiopeia, are you alright?" the voice of Luis asked.

Cassiopeia blinked as she snapped out of her thoughts. She looked to see the three primitives staring at her with concern in their eyes. It was then that she realized that she had begun to sweat and that her breath was coming quicker. "Oh, yes", Cassiopeia said hastily, uttering a nervous chuckle. "I'm fine, just fine. The finest I have ever been. I just need to, um, figure things out. Excuse me." With that Cassiopeia hastily exited the bridge, leaving Ethan, Luis, and Emily alone.

"Do you think we should follow her", Luis asked, looking to his friends.

"I think she needs a little time to herself right now, dude", Ethan replied, having sensed the future girl's apprehension.

"Ethan's right", Emily said. "She's obviously going through a lot right now, so it would be best to give her some space."

Luis and Ethan nodded at this while the squibbon warbled in agreement. It was then that the three heard a long cry coming from outside the Time Flyer. They moved over to the helm and looked out the spherical windows to see Cassiopeia pacing back and forth in front of the Time Flyer, kicking at the white ground and clutching her auburn hair.

"On second thought", Emily said as she watched the display. "Maybe we should give her a lot of time."

. . . . .

The sun beat down on the desolate white landscape as Luis made his way across the salt flat. He wiped a sheen of sweat from his brow as he stopped to rest, his breath heavy in a mixture of fatigue and heat. He glanced back over his shoulder to the flat expanse he had just come from, the insectoid form of the Time Flyer a small metallic blue speck on the horizon. He let out a sigh as he straightened himself up to continue.

"Why am I the one being sent out in the sweltering sun to find the girl?" Luis asked aloud, the sound of crunching salt beneath his feet. "Because you're the reason we're here", he replied, doing his best mocking Ethan impression. "If it hadn't been for your stupid rocket, we wouldn't be in this mess."

Luis sighed. While he hated to admit it, Ethan was right. Were it not for his insistence on having Ethan and Emily help launch his rocket they wouldn't be stuck here to begin with. Perhaps they should've gone bowling like normal people instead.

After Cassiopeia had left the bridge, Luis and the others watched as the girl paced around the vessel for several minutes, her fingers intertwined in her auburn hair. After a while they watched as she suddenly began to walk away from the Time Flyer, her blue clad form turning into a small speck on the horizon before disappearing completely. While Luis had suggested following the girl, Emily insisted that they let her be. With that, the three began the wait for their host to return from her desert outing.

Two hours passed, and Cassiopeia still had not returned. During this time Luis had studied the two robots that lay sprawled on the floor of the bridge, the green and blue cased machines like the one they had helped Cassiopeia retrieve, while Ethan and Emily explored the interior of the Time Flyer. During this time Emily had stumbled across several gadgets in what they had assumed was the living quarters, which further occupied Luis a he tried to figure out what the small bits of tech were, while also preventing the squibbon from running of with them. Emily had also stumbled across a collection of thin books of glossy paper, only to be disappointed that the contents were written in runes she could not read and settled to looking over the few illustrations scattered between the pages.

Eventually, Ethan commented on how long Cassiopeia had been gone. Emily admitted that the girl had been gone for longer than she had expected she would and suggested that someone go out to look for her.

"I volunteer Luis", Ethan had said.

"What?" Luis exclaimed. "Why me?"

"Because", Ethan said, crossing his arms. "If it weren't for you and your rocket we wouldn't be in this mess."

Luis cast a look towards Emily, the redhead seated in a booth with the squibbon in her lap. "I have to go with Ethan on this, Luis", she said, the terrasquid in her lap warbling in agreement.

Luis scoffed. While he found the two's reasoning to be flawed, he was not in a mood to argue. He also wanted to get home as soon as possible and having the only one who knew how to fly the Time Flyer lost in the middle of a giant salt flat would not help. So, with a sigh, Luis made his way down into the cargo bay of the Time Flyer and opened the hatch to the outside world.

A blinding white light filled the room as the hatch opened, causing Luis to shield his eyes with his arms. As his eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness, he looked out to see a landscape of flat land stretching out for miles, a white layer of salt covering the parched ground, contrasting heavily with the cloudless sky above. Taking a breath, Luis stepped out onto the gangplank and onto the parched earth, the crunch of salt filling the silent air. Cautiously he walked further out onto the land and out of the shadow of the Time Flyer, wincing as the sun beat down onto his skin. Ignoring his discomfort, he made his way to the front of the large vessel where he had last seen Cassiopeia. On the ground he could see what appeared to be footprints in the previously pristine salt later leading in the direction he judged to be north-east. Taking his bearings, Luis began to follow the trail of footprints out into the desert of salt.

Luis wiped his brow again, looking ruefully as the glistening liquid on his arm. After walking for what felt like at least fifteen minutes, the trail of footprints still went deeper into the salt flat. Luis wondered how far Cassiopeia had gone and what she was even doing out here. Granted he had noticed that something was bothering her but going out into the middle of a desert in the distant future was hardly a way to cope with your problems. But then again maybe people thought differently in the future.

It was then that Luis began to take stock of his surroundings. While at first he had only seen the landscape as a simple expanse of white salty ground, if the Time Flyer's computer was right he was standing on the ancient seafloor of the Mediterranean sea. Every grain of salt on the flat ground had once been diluted in the blue waters of the sea that had been the center of trade for powerful empires. Looking around he noticed that the land, desolate as it was, was beautiful in a strange sort of way. In the distance Luis could make out what appeared to be hills in the distance, possibly the remains of undersea mountains if not the beginnings of a continental shelf. Looking closer, Luis noticed something in the distance, a blue spot against the white ground. Luis blinked and looked again and saw that the blue spot was a person wearing a blue jumpsuit.

Luis let out a sigh of relief at the sight of Cassiopeia. Quickening his pace, Luis made his way towards the girl. As he got closer, he heard something floating over the wind, something that sounded somewhat like a flute. He also noticed that Cassiopeia was moving her arms in slow motions, her leg occasionally rising and settling back into position.

Finally, Luis reached Cassiopeia. Now only a few feet behind, Luis could see that Cassiopeia was standing on a stone, her auburn hair, once pulled back in a ponytail, was unkept and darkened with sweat. Her slow movements reminded Luis of some manner of tai chi he had seen a group of seniors doing in the park on summer, the music, a tranquil melody of flutes and drums, emanated from a wristband on her right arm. Over the soft music, Luis could hear the girl uttering something in a strange language before saying something in a reverent tone.

"Though walk in lands unknown, though I am far from the sight of my people, you remain at my side. My path is laid out by your hand, the way is set, and I shall not fear. _Soter'kai_ ", Cassiopeia said, her hands clasped to her chest. Her forehead shined with sweat, her cheeks reddened by the sun.

"Um, excuse me", Luis said, clearing his parched throat.

Cassiopeia gasped at the intrusion. She turned on her heels towards the source of the intrusion to see Luis standing a few feet away from her.

"Oh", Cassiopeia said, hopping off the rock. "It's you. I did not expect to see you out here."

 _I didn't expect to find myself out here either_ , Luis thought, wiping yet another sheen of sweat from his brow, grains of salt sprinkling his arm. He then said, "So… any particular reason you're… _kof_ … out in the middle of nowhere?"

"Ah, that. I…" Cassiopeia replied, brushing a few sweat drenched strands of hair from her forehead. "I just required some time to think. I apologize for my sudden departure."

"S'okay", Luis said. "We were all just concerned for you after you're little, ahem, episode outside."

Cassiopeia grimaced as a blush shone through her slight sunburn. "You saw that then?"

"Hard to miss it", Luis raplied. "What with that bloodcurdling scream of yours." Luis chuckled, "You all got an extra set of lungs in the future?"

Cassiopeia looked over at Luis quizzingly. "You do not possess auxiliary lungs in your time?" she asked.

Luis blinked. "Wait, you're serious?" he asked.

"Indeed", Cassiopeia replied. "You did not think that human physiology would remain the same after ten thousand years, did you?"

Luis considered. "I figured there would be some changes, but not as radical as a second pair of lungs."

"Well, not exactly a pair of lungs, per say", Cassiopeia said. "I suppose they are more akin to extra alveoli in the back of the primary lungs. But I suppose you would prefer discussing anatomy on the way back to the Time Flyer."

"And get out of this sun, gladly", Luis said. With that he and Cassiopeia began to make their way back to the Time Flyer.

A few minutes passed without either saying a word. The only sound shared between them was the sound of salt crunching under their feet and the wind blowing across the salt flat. "So, that thing you were doing on the rock, what do you call that?" Luis asked, breaking the silence.

" _Kander'tantz_ ", Cassiopeia replied. "A sort of meditation that helped me relax at the academy."

 _Kander'tantz_ , Luis mused, letting the strange words run through his mind. _Language sure has changed over the centuries._ "We have something like that in my time, tai chi we call it. It's suppose to have some health benefits, but I don't see it."

"Maybe you should try it when you return to your era", Cassiopeia suggested.

"Perhaps", Luis said. "Also, that thing you were muttering on that rock, mind telling me what that was?"

Cassiopeia raised an eyebrow towards Luis.

"Just out of curiosity", Luis said, raising his hands defensively.

Cassiopeia sighed. "Promise not to laugh."

"Scout's honor", Luis said, crossing his heart.

"It was a prayer my mother taught me as a child", Cassiopeia said. "Something to help me when I am feeling lost."

"Are you?" Luis asked.

Cassiopeia was silent for a few moments. "Yes", she replied. "You could say I am in a bit of a predicament that I am unsure of how to alleviate."

"Want to talk about it?" Luis asked. Cassiopeia shot him an unsure look. "I find talking about a problem helps me to find an answer. A little trick I learned in study class."

Cassiopeia considered. Perhaps explaining her situation would help her reach a conclusion. But then there was the matter of contaminating the timeline, telling these primitives anything could have unseen consequences. But then again, anything she told them couldn't possibly have any more effect than what they have seen already, especially about events that would not take place until long after their bloodlines had thinned to nothing.

"I believe I would like that", Cassiopeia said. "But what I have to say also concerns the others, so I hope you won't mind waiting until we return to the Time Flyer."

"Fair enough", Luis said, wiping another sheen of sweat from his brow. "In the meantime, tell me more about these extra lungs of yours."


	7. Chapter 6: Accommodations

**Chapter Six: Accommodations**

"Come on", Ethan groaned as he rummaged through yet another cupboard in the Time Flyer's galley. "There has to be some food here."

"Maybe they don't eat in the future", Emily suggested from her seat on one of the bunks in the ships midsection, her eyes glued on one of the books she had found in a drawer. The squibbon lay curled up beside her on the bed, Emily absently stroking the terrasquid's mantle.

Ethan sighed. He looked through the cupboard again, only to find several black and white plastic tubes. Runes and symbols that Ethan could not make heads or tales of were printed on their glossy surface, though he could see what looked like a stylized tree surrounded by a wreath, though Ethan had no idea what this was supposed to indicate. With a huff he closed the cupboard door, clutching his stomach as another rumble echoed within his gut. Judging by his wristwatch, which indicated 8:45 a.m. on the green digital display, by this time he would've gotten up from bed to arrive at the breakfast table where his mother would have pancakes and bacon ready for him and his two younger brothers. But, of course, being the idiot that he was, he had to agree to come along on Luis's rocket escapade.

"Hey, Em," Ethan called over to the redhead. "How long has Luis been gone?"

"Hmm?" Emily said, looking up from the book. She closed the volume and looked down at her wristwatch. "I'd say about twenty, thirty minutes."

Ethan moaned. "Great. With our luck the nerd got lost out there."

"Come on, Ethan", Emily said. "Have a little faith in Luis."

"Faith, huh?" Ethan said shaking his head. "Need I remind you of the Mall Incident of '04?"

Emily's face dropped as memories of the ill-fated school trip to the mall back in the eighth grade. Somehow Luis had managed to get lost in the food court just as the group was about to enter the mall. She remembered that the chaperones had to spend the better part of two hours searching each restaurant for the boy, only to find him huddled in a changing stall in the women's clothing section just outside the court. Because of Luis's little adventure, the entire group had to hold hands for the entirety of the trip.

"Oh", Emily said, rubbing her arm. "Do you suppose we should go out there after him?"

"And go out in that heat? Fat chance", Ethan said. Another round of rumbling from his stomach caused him to wince. "What I do know, however, is that I need food." He looked over at the sleeping squibbon curled up on the bed. "And right now calamari sound good."

As if on cue the squibbon's eye stalks shot up the moment the words left Ethan's mouth. The terrasquid let out a shriek as he saw Ethan approaching him before leaping from the bed and onto Emily's back, wrapping his quivering tentacles around the girl as a series of angry warbles escaped the cephalopod.

Emily, her eyebrows knitted into an annoyed scowl, was just about to suggest something else that Ethan could eat, namely a knuckle sandwich, when she heard the cargo bay's hatch opening. She then became aware of the distant sound of voices as footsteps ascended the metal ramp into the bay before the hatch closed once again.

"I think Luis is back", Emily said. "And I believe he found Cassiopeia."

"About time", Ethan said before looking over to the squibbon latched to Emily's back. "Sorry about that, little dude."

The squibbon glared at the large boy before diverting his attention to the sound of someone climbing up the ladder from the Time Flyer's cargo bay.

"So, what you're saying", Luis said as he emerged from the hole leading to the cargo bay. "Is that you have pretty much eradicated the need for vaccines and the risk of creating vaccine immune bacteria by developing an artificial symbiosis with genetically altered bacteriophage?"

"In short, yes" Cassiopeia replied as she emerged after Luis, the porthole closing as soon as she was clear. "I am surprised that humans of your era hadn't considered it."

"Perhaps I should submit the idea when I get back", Luis said. He then looked over to Emily and Ethan. "Hi guy, I'm back."

"Took you long enough", Ethan said, giving a light punch to Luis's arm. "We were just about to send a search party after you."

"I feel so loved", Luis said as he rubbed his sore arm.

"Thank you, Luis" Emily said, giving the boy a light tap on the shoulder. She then turned her attention to Cassiopeia. "Hey, if everything alright? We got worried when you ran out like that."

Cassiopeia cleared her throat. "Yes. I, erm, apologize for my earlier behavior. It was not becoming of me considering the situation at hand and the fact that it was my fault we are here at all. How are you fairing?"

"Fine", Emily said, relieved that the girl was alright.

"Speak for yourself", Ethan said, arms crossed. "I'm practically starving over here and there isn't a single crumb on this tub!"

"Ethan!" Emily said, casting a glare towards the boy. "Don't be rude."

"Oh no", Cassiopeia said, raising a hand. "No offence taken. I suppose I have not been the most hospitable host, please allow me to remedy that." With that she made her way to the back of the Time Flyer, Ethan, Emily, and Luis following close behind. She walked up to a small machine embedded in the wall, a white rectangle resembling some sort of vending machine. "Sweet, salty, or citrus?" she asked, her hand hovering over a screen,

"Uh, sweet, I guess", Ethan replied.

With a tap of a crème colored icon on the machine, the device whirred as a small brown bar with a white drizzle dispensed. Cassiopeia picked up the bar and handed it towards Ethan.

"A granola bar?" Ethan said, taking the small bar.

"A nutrient bar actually", Cassiopeia replied. "Capable of meeting all your nutritional needs."

Ethan shrugged. "Better than nothing, I suppose", he said and bit into the bar with a crunch. "Hmm, kinda like a macaroon."

"Would you two like one?" Cassiopeia asked, looking towards Luis and Emily.

"I guess I'll give the citrus a try", Emily said.

"Salty for me", Luis chimed in.

With two more taps on the screen two more bars were dispensed. Emily and Luis took their respective bars, one with a light green drizzle and the other with brown, and began eating. Luis noted that his bar tasted somewhat like salted cashews along with a taste somewhat reminiscent of ham.

"Not bad", Emily said as she finished the last of her bar. "Filling."

"Yeah", Luis said, surprised that such a small bar could do so much. "Hey, wasn't there something you wanted to tell us?"

Cassiopeia looked up from the machine. She sighed. "Yes, I did."

"What is it?" Emily asked, concern crossing her face.

Cassiopeia was silent for a few moments. Finally, she said, "You may want to sit down for this", she said, motioning over to the booth at the end of the galley.

The three friends made their way to the booth and slid into their seats. Cassiopeia paced a bit, her chin cradled in her hand as if considering what to say.

"Alright", she said. "I believe I owe you three an explanation on the current situation, as well as the seriousness of what has happened.' She paused. "I suppose the best place to start is the beginning. I come from the year twelve thousand three-hundred sixty-seven A.D., nearly ten thousand years into your future. Three hundred years in my past a massive ice age has ravaged the world making life on Earth nearly impossible for humanity. As it stands, humanity faces now faces total extinction unless my mission succeeds."

"Mission?" Ethan said.

"Yes", Cassiopeia said, continuing. "As humanity's resources run dry, our only hope is to relocate to a new hospitable location in the future after the ice age has ended. While we are aware that there are several potential viable time periods for human relocation, we are unsure which one is the best suited."

"So they sent you to scout out the future", Luis said.

"Indeed", Cassiopeia said. "I was selected to lead the expedition along with my robot crew to begin our survey in the Northern Forests of two-hundred million years A.D. As our expedition went on, I ran into the squibbon."

At that moment the squibbon jumped on the table flapping his paddle-like tentacles. Emily scooped the creature up in her arms and sat him in her lap, the cephalopod's eyestalks peeking over the edge of the table.

"As I said", Cassiopeia continued, her arms crossed. "During my survey I happened to run into the squibbon. Apparently the little terrasquid seemed to take an interest in me and followed me into the Time Flyer. As a result, just as I was about to enter the time vortex the squibbon, for some reason", she gave the squibbon a sideways glance. "Took control of the Time Flyer and managed to send the ship through an uncharted wormhole, incapacitating the crew in the process. The rest, I suppose, is history."

Cassiopeia looked over her audience. The look on the three teens was one of contemplation as they seemed to process the information given to them.

"Alright", Ethan said. "Nice story, but what does this have to do with us?"

"Well", Cassiopeia said. "I was not intended to enter any time before the year I embarked from, I suppose you can surmise why that would be problematic. While I am sure that there should not be any ill effects to the time stream, the fact that you are here out of your own time complicates things, both for me and for yourselves."

"How so?" Emily asked, nervously stroking the squibbon's mantle.

Cassiopeia considered. "I am not quite sure, though I do not doubt there will be some… dialogue between my father and I", she said.

"I'm so sorry", Emily said.

"Oh no, no need to apologize", the auburn-haired girl said, a small smile forming on her lips. "I suppose I will deal with this issue when I get to it. But for now, I have more important matter to attend to, namely you three, er, four."

"Us?' Luis said, the squibbon warbling.

"Yes", Cassiopeia said. "Seeing as my actions have resulted in your current situation, it is my responsibility to ensure that you all are safe until your return to your own time. As the old adage goes, 'my home is yours.'"

"Well", Luis said, running his fingers through his hair. "We'll be the best guests we can."

"You won't even know we're here", Emily added.

"I appreciate the gesture", Cassiopeia said. "Now, are there any other questions?"

"I think I've got everything", Luis said. "But there's one thing I don't get thought."

"And what is that?" Cassiopeia asked.

"Why time travel?" Luis asked. "With all the technological innovation humans are bound to have made over the last ten thousand years, why use time travel to solve your problem?"

"Ah", Cassiopeia said, scratching the back of her head. "That will require some explaining."

. . . . .

From the top floor of the Temporal Exploration Guild's administration building one could look across the city of Cartha unimpeded, granted of course the weather permitted it. Most days, however, the view one would see through the large windows of Minister Rohd's office was the ghostly outlines of dimly illuminated buildings huddled amongst the mountains they were built among through the perpetual flurry of snow. This was the view Cedric G was given as he relayed his report on the Time Flyer's whereabouts to the minister of the Guild had he been bothered to look.

"And you are positive that you have located it?" Minister Rohd asked from behind his desk.

"Yes, minister", Cedric replied from his seat on the other side of the glass desk. "We are certain that we have pinpointed the location of the Time Flyer."

A look of relief washed over the face of the thin man across from Cedric, a sigh of relief escaping from flared nostrils. "I cannot express how pleased I am at this news, Cedric", Minister Rohd said, a slight smile forming on his lips. "You have my thanks."

Cedric gave a slight nod. "Thank you, minister", he said. "But the credit does not go to me alone."

"Ah, of course", Minister Rohd said with a small wave. "My compliments to your team as well."

"I will be sure to relay the compliment", Cedric said, a slight smile on his beaded face.

It was then that the door to the large office opened and a service bot entered, a purple tinted capsule shaped like the robots Cedric had sent with his daughter. A platter with two glasses lay in the machine's hands along with a steaming kettle as the bot hovered closer to the desk and laid the platter upon the glass surface with a clank.

"Refreshments?" the purple tinted bot asked in a feminine voice.

"Please", Minister Rohd said, to which the bot poured a golden liquid into the glasses, steam swirling off the surface of the liquid. "Thank you", Rohd said when the bot was finished. "That will be all."

The bot gave a small bow and hovered out the door it had come from. With the two men alone, they took the glasses and brought the warm liquid to their lips; cider ale if Cedric judged correctly.

"I must reiterate, Cedric", Rohd said over his glass. "It is quite fortunate that you located the Time Flyer when you did. I am quite certain the provincial governor was one form away from relieving me of my position."

Cedric gave a slight chuckle. "I doubt the governor would replace you, Findas", he said. "Now if the archon had gotten involve, then you would be in a predicament."

"Oh really?" Rohd said, cocking an eyebrow. "Who do you suppose the form would have been forwarded to? I am sure the archon would be ecstatic to learn that the project she has siphoned three trillion state credits towards suddenly disappeared into the ether!"

Cedric flinched at this. While dealing with the local bureaucracy was one thing, dealing with the archon, supreme leader of the entirety of the Northern Federation, was another. He took another sip of his ale. "I apologize for any complications caused by the incident, minister", he said. "I assure you that I take full responsibility for the incident."

"Oh, no", Findas said, a wry smile on his lips. "No need to worry yourself, Cedric. That is why I am here, to take care of any complications within the Guild…. regardless of who is responsible." He huffed.

Cedric watched as a dark looked crossed the face of the minister of the Temporal Exploration Guild, almost as if a shadow had overtaken the thin man across from Cedric. It was then that Cedric noted several strands of grey hair among the natural blue streaks of his bangs that he hadn't noticed before as well as wrinkles along the minister's eyes despite the man being some fifteen years younger than him. All things considered he shouldn't be surprised that the man had aged so much, what with all the pressure placed upon him by those above him. Cedric was sure he had gained a few grey hairs himself over the last four days since the Time Flyer had disappeared.

"But enough about me", Minister Rohd said, his face brightening with a thin smile. "Back to the matter at hand. Is there any word from the Time Flyer?"

Cedric shook his head. "No, minister. While we have managed to pinpoint the craft's location at five million years A.D. near the Mediterranean basin, we have yet to contact it. We believe the ship's communications had broken chrono-synchronization when it had disappeared, but we estimate that we should regain communications soon."

Findas nodded, his drink hovering centimeters from his lips. "And has your team determined how the Time Flyer managed to go off course?"

Cedric hesitated, stroking his beard as he formulated his response. "All readings we could gather indicate no mechanical malfunction", he said. "And our vortex observatories hadn't detected any anomalies within the time vortex. Therefore, the most logical conclusion we could think of was…" he paused, dreading the words he was about to say. "Human error."

Minister Rohd cocked an eyebrow and looked at Cedric for a long time. After what had felt like several minutes the minister downed the last of his drink and sat it down on his desk. "Human error" he said, more a statement than a question. "By your daughter?"

"Yes, minister", Cedric answered.

"I see", Rohd said. "But, even if human error was involved in the accident, why did the robotic crew not take control?"

"We have considered that", Cedric said. "And we have yet to come up with a satisfactory answer."

Cedric was surprised by a chuckle coming from Minister Rohd. "Heh, I apologize", he said, a hand over his mouth as he suppressed a wry smile. "I just find it… amusing that the top student of the academy would be so…"

"Incompetent?" Cedric finished, a tone of challenge in his voice.

"Not the word I was going to say", Minister Rohd said half convincingly. "I am merely disappointed… by the both of you."

Cedric casts a questioning look to the thin man.

"I entrusted you with choosing the pilot of the Time Flyer, seeing as this was your project", Rohd said. "I had thought you to be capable of making the best choice and as such never questioned your choosing your daughter for the mission. However," he pulled up a holographic screen on his desk, several rows of names appearing. "looking over the other candidates for the project I have noted several other students who seemed to be more qualified that your candidate." He then begins listing off a few of the names. "Imili Rho, Ganymede T, Osiris E, Philomena Shu, these are only a few of the candidates that seemed to have been better suited for the mission!"

Cedric is a bit taken aback by the sudden rise in tone in the minister's voice. It was several seconds later before the edge seemed to leave Rohd's voice and he relaxed and let out a long sigh. "Cedric, please tell me you did not put favoritism over the outcome of this mission."

Cedric, feeling his blood boil a bit, steeled his face and looked Minister Rohd in the eye. "I made my decision because I believed Cassiopeia G, who happened to be my daughter, possessed qualities that would optimize the success of the mission", he said. "I give you my word on that, minister."

Minister Rohd nodded his head, his brows knitted thoughtfully. With a flick of his wrist the screen on the desk disappeared. "Very well, Cedric", Minister Rohd said. He stood from his seat. "Inform me when you have regained communication with the Time Flyer and your daughter. Perhaps then we can get a better understanding on what happened."

Cedric got up from his own seat, grabs his glass and downs the last of his own now cold drink, and gives a bow. "Of course, sir", he said with a bow.

With that Minister Rohd turned from the stocky man towards the snow-covered cityscape out the large window of his office. Cedric, taking this as a dismissal, makes his way out of the office, leaving the minister alone. Now alone, Minister Rohd stared at the distant twinkle of lights behind the flurry of snow for several minutes before calling for the service bot to brink more drinks, something stronger this time.


	8. Chapter 7: Mediterranean Nights

**Chapter Seven: Mediterranean Nights**

Luis wished he had a camera with him as he looked out over the salt flat. Sunset had fallen over the Mediterranean Salt Flats, the light of the cherry red sun painting the sky and wispy clouds in a mosaic of gold and orange. Even the layer of salt that covered the land for untold miles was cast in a fiery light as the once punishing sun began to set.

From his spot leaning against the bluish hull of the Time Flyer Luis watched as night fell over the world of five million years A.D. While he had seen the sun set back home hundreds of time, the sun casting the Toronto skyline in a sharp silhouette but watching the sunset from the seabed of an ancient sea over five million years after he would be dead gave him a renewed interest of the sight. It was interesting how, no matter how much time passed, things could be so different yet remain the same.

"Luis!" the voice of Cassiopeia called from somewhere behind him.

Luis looked to his side to see Cassiopeia walking from behind the Time Flyer. Her face was cast with a reddish glow as the sun dipped lower into the sky, a long shadow trailing across the ground behind her.

"Ah, there you are", Cassiopeia said as she caught sight of Luis against the hull of the timeship.

"Oh, hi there", Luis said, giving the auburn-haired girl a wave. "Something up?"

Cassiopeia cocked an eyebrow as she tried to decipher what he had just said.

"Is anything wrong?" Luis repeated, hoping to clarify.

"Oh", Cassiopeia said, comprehending what the boy had meant. "No, nothing is wrong. I was merely curious on your whereabouts and went out to…"

Luis waited for the rest of Cassiopeia's response but was puzzled when he heard nothing. He turned to where the girl was standing and was surprised to find her staring in the direction of the setting sun, the expression on her face not unlike that of a deer in a headlight, eyes wide and her mouth slightly agape, the light of the setting sun casting an orange glow upon her tanned face. As he looked on Luis could almost swear that he saw a smile creeping onto Cassiopeia's face.

"Astounding", Cassiopeia said in a tone that was almost a whisper.

"Yeah, beautiful isn't it?" Luis said as he walked over to the girl.

Cassiopeia let out a small chuckle, her smile widening. "Yes, yes, it is", she said. "I have seen this in pictures and old films, but to see it with my own eyes."

"Wait", Luis said, a shocked look on his face. "You mean to tell me you've never seen a sunset before."

Cassiopeia shook her head. "No, I haven't", she said. "Constant cloud cover tends not to offer the best conditions for viewing one."

A snicker from Luis caused Cassiopeia to shoot a puzzled look at the boy, who had brought a hand to his mouth to suppress his laugh. "Did I say something humorous?", Cassiopeia asked.

"Oh, no", Luis said, regaining his composure. "Heh, it was just the way you phrased it. You know, like…" Luis trailed off as he saw the growing look of confusion on the future girl's face. "Never mind", he said and quickly redirected his attention back to the horizon just as the sun was about to fully set. The shades of gold and orange were soon replaced with the deeper shades of purple and blue as night began to fall. In the growing darkness stars began to appear.

"I believe we should return to the ship", Cassiopeia said as a cold breeze blew over them. "Temperatures are beginning to fall."

Luis shivered as he felt the breeze wash over him, causing goose pimples to crawl up his arms. "I think you're right", he said, hugging his arms closer to his chest in an attempt to ward off the cold. "Shall we?"

Taking one last look at the now dark landscape, the two made their way around the Time Flyer to the open cargo bay, the white interior lights spilling out to illuminate the darkness. The two stepped inside the bay, the hatch closing behind them with a hiss as Cassiopeia made her way up the ladder, Luis following close behind.

The living quarters of the Time Flyer were pleasantly warm as Luis stepped from the ladder and onto the deck. On one of the bunks Luis could see Ethan sprawled across the mattress, a nutrient bar in his hand as he whistled a tune to himself. From a stall between the bunks and the galley he could hear running water, steam seeping through the edges. On the floor in front of the stall the squibbon was curled up, burbling happily as the warm steam swirled around him.

"Evening, Luis", Ethan said with a wave of his nutrient bar, crumbs falling onto his shirt. "Enjoy sightseeing?

"As a matter of fact, yes", Luis said as he made his way to the bunk opposite of Ethan. "I don't know what it was, but the sunset was absolutely stellar. You should've seen it."

Ethan shrugged. "Eh, you've seen one sunset, you've seen them all", he said as he took another bite from his bar.

Luis shook his head. "Where's your sense of wonder, E?" he asked. "We are experiencing something that no one in our time ever has, or ever will, and you aren't at all impressed?"

Ethan considered. "Baking sun, blistering sand, and sunsets", he said in a thoughtful tone. "I think I can live without that." He took one final bite from his nutrient bar and placed his hands behind his head, eyes closing as he let out a content sigh.

Luis rolled his eyes. How typical that Ethan would not appreciate the fact that he, through some trick of fate, had been transported five million years in the future. Then again, Ethan always had a talent for overlooking the finer details in life, always preferring the more blatantly obvious or eye-catching things. Yet, somehow, this never hindered his ability to understand a subtle joke.

"Alright", Luis said, leaning forward. "Since natural beauty isn't enough to get you excited about the fact you have time traveled, what will?"

Ethan opened his eyes. "I always imagined time travel to be like that movie that came out a few years back. What was it called?"

Luis blinked. "The Time Machine?" he asked.

"Yeah!" Ethan said, sitting up. "Post-apocalyptic mayhem, blood thirsty monsters at every turn, that's what I think when I think time travel."

"Of course", Luis said with a defeated sigh, wondering why he even bothered.

It was then that the sound of running water stopped soon followed by the door to the stall opening as Emily stepped out, as towel on her head as she straightened out the wrinkles in her green shirt.

"Shower's free", she announced as she stroked the squibbon who bounced excitedly at her feet.

"And that's my cue", Ethan said as he rolled out of the cot. "Don't worry, Luis, I'll try and save you some hot water."

"Hold on a second!", Luis said, jumping from his sitting position and in front of the larger boy. "Why should you go next?"

"First come first serve, dude", Ethan said with a shrug as he attempted to go around Luis.

"Bull crap!" Luis exclaimed. "If anyone deserves to go next, it's me."

"And why is that?" Ethan asked.

"Oh, jeez, I don't know", Luis said, faux bewilderment in his tone. "Might have something to do with the fact that I am caked with sweat and dirt from my desert excursion earlier today!"

"And that's my problem because…?" Ethan asked.

"I am getting in there and that is final", Luis said, arms crossed and a defiant scowl on his face.

"Wrong answer", Ethan replied as he lifted Luis by the elbows and placed moved him out of the way.

"Hey!", Luis protested as Ethan plopped him onto the floor and made his way towards the shower stall. Ethan let out triumphant laugh as he was about to stepped into the shower stall, only to be met with a closing stall door and the sound of running water.

"Wha?" Ethan said, bewilderment on his face as the sound of warbled giggling drifted from the stall.

"Looks like Squibby called the shower first", Emily said, an amused look on her face.

"Oh no, I am not letting some overgrown squid take all the hot water", Ethan said as he slid open the shower door. "Hey, get out of there you pe-mmmph!"

Ethan's sentence was cut short as a bar of soap was tossed into his mouth, causing him to stumble back in surprise as the shower door slide back closed, a warbled chuckle emanating from its occupant. Luis let out a laugh as Emily suppressed a giggle as Ethan spat the bar of soap out of his mouth, frantically wiping his tongue on his shirt in an attempt to get the taste of soap and what tasted suspiciously like fish out of his mouth.

"Oh, you think that's funny, do you?" Ethan asked as he glared towards laughing Luis.

"Serves you right", Luis said, wiping a mirthful tear from his eye.

"Oh yeah?" Ethan said, the flame of playful malice growing in his eyes. "Why you little twerp!"

With a lunge Ethan wrapped his massive arms around Luis's neck and dragging him into a chokehold. Luis struggled in the larger boy's grip as Ethan balled up his free fist and began to noogie the poor boy, a manic laugh pouring from his lips as Luis yelped helplessly. Emily, meanwhile, couldn't help but laugh as she watched the display.

"What is going on?" Cassiopeia asked as she entered the crew's quarters from the bridge, a look of worry and confusion on her face as she looked over the display before her.

Ethan stopped his relentless noogieing and blinked as Luis squirmed free from his confines. "Oh, nothing", Ethan said innocently. "Just a, um, ancient human ritual."

Cassiopeia nodded unconvinced. "Right", she said before a pleased look returned to her face. "Anyway, I am pleased to inform you that the engines should be operational by tomorrow afternoon."

"That's great", Luis said, gingerly rubbing the top of his head. "So that means you can take us home?"

Cassiopeia nodded. "Yes, or at least that is what I am hoping. The Time Flyer's computers still need to return to chronosyncronization before it can take off, so that may take a while longer."

"But not too long, right?" Emily asked as she finished drying her hair.

"Most likely", Cassiopeia replied. "By the way, where is the squibbon?"

As if on cue the door from the shower slide open as the terrasquid hopped out, water dripping from his mantle. Before the little cephalopod could shake the water off, Emily had scooped him into her towel and gently dried the creature off.

"Ah, perfect timing", Cassiopeia said with a satisfied nod. "Now, if you do not mind, I will be in the shower."

"Hey, how come you get to go next?" Ethan asked.

"My ship, my rules", Cassiopeia said as she disappeared into the stall, door sliding closed behind her, followed by the sound of running water.

. . . . .

 _Of course Ethan would take all the hot water_ , Luis thought as he stepped out of the shower, towel draped around his neck and a slight scowl on his face. As soon as Cassiopeia had finished her shower Ethan had swooped in to claim it for himself, pushing Luis out of the way in the process. When Luis was final able to get into the shower, he was met with a stream of cold-water cascading onto him, resulting in a rather embarrassing squeal.

One the bright side, at least he was clean, Luis thought as he ran a finger through his hair in an attempt to straighten in out. He then folded the towel and placed it in a pile with the other towels that had been used by the others and made his way to the bunks where Ethan and Emily were lounging. The squibbon, curled up at the foot of the bunk Emily was occupying, had long since fallen asleep.

"Thanks for leaving me some hot water, E", Luis said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"No prob, rocket boy", Ethan retorted, a smile on his face. "Happy to do it."

Luis cringed at the jab, a sign that Ethan was still somewhat peeved about his involvement in getting them stuck in the first place. He had made it a priority to somehow make it up to Ethan as soon as they got back to their own time. He was currently debating over whether it would be tutoring for the upcoming exams or lunch at the Snack Shack for the next month, though he had a fairly good idea which Ethan would choose.

"Tell you what, Luis", Emily pipped up, her hands busy braiding her hair back into pigtails. "You get dibs on the shower before me. How's that sound?"

"Thankyou, Emily", Luis said as he crawled into his bunk. "At least you care."

Ethan rolled his eyes as he rolled over towards the wall. Emily only shook her head as she gave the sleeping squibbon at the foot of her bed a gentle stroking on his mantle.

It was then that Cassiopeia emerged from the bridge, where she had retreated to after her shower, a small pad-like device in her hand. Her hair, which had previously been in a ponytail, had been now been let down, barely brushing the nape of her neck. In place of her blue jumpsuit, she now donned a blue gown with a logo resembling an hour glass.

"Is everything alright back here?" she asked, her arms crossed behind her back. "Anything you need?"

"No, I think we're fine", Emily said.

"Good", Cassiopeia said with a satisfied nod. "Well, with that I bid you good night." She then turned to return to the bridge.

"Aren't you coming to bed?" Luis asked.

Cassiopeia paused. "Oh, yes, I will… later. I just have a few things I have to look after on the bridge, nothing to worry about", she said with a nervous smile.

"Alright", Luis said, half convinced. "Try not to stay up too late."

"Good night, C.G.", Emily called out as she began to nestle herself under the covers.

Cassiopeia turned, her head cocked and a confused look on her face. "C.G.?" she said slowly.

"Yeah, C.G., short for Cassiopeia G.", Emily clarified. "Thought it'd be a neat nickname for you."

Cassiopeia went silent, her brows slightly knitting as if in deep thought.

"Cassiopeia?" Emily asked, a look of worry crossing her face as she began to worry that she may have offended the girl. "If you don't like it, I won't…"

"Oh, no", Cassiopeia said, holding up a hand, a reassuring smile on her face. "C.G.", she said slowly, letting the words process. "I think I like it."

Emily smiled as a wave of relief washed over her.

"Tell me", Cassiopeia said, her attention towards Luis. "Is distributing monikers a common custom in your era?"

"Yeah", Luis said. "Though it's mostly between friends."

Cassiopeia nodded at this, an expression crossing her face that neither Luis or Emily could decipher. Finally, Cassiopeia looked up and said, "Well, I won't keep you up any longer. Good night and pleasant dreams." With that she turned and entered the bridge, the door closing behind her as the lights to the crew's quarters dimmed.

"Not much of a talker, is she?" Emily said as she made herself comfortable under the blankets of the cot.

Luis shrugged. "I suppose", he said. "But then again neither was I when you first met me."

"Right", Emily said, remembering back to when she and Luis had first met back in middle school. "So, what do you think of her?"

"Hmm?" Luis said, thinking. "She seems nice enough, a little distant, but pleasant. You?"

"I like her", Emily said. "She has a certain charm to her, I don't know what yet, but it's there."

"Think she's best friend forever material?" Luis joked.

"Perhaps", Emily said, then frowned. "Well, perhaps if things were different."

"Hey, how about less yapping and more sleeping", Ethan moaned from his bunk as he placed a pillow over his head in an attempt to drown out the conversation.

"Sorry, Ethan", Emily said, before turning to Luis. "Well, good night."

"Night", Luis said as she lay his head on his pillow and closed his eyes.

. . . . .

From the other side of the door Cassiopeia listened as the two primitives talked amongst themselves until the room became silent. After hearing that nothing else was being said she moved away from the door and sat down in a chair in front of the large central table in the middle of the table. She let out a long sigh as she dropped her data pad onto the tabletop with a clank.

"Friends?" Cassiopeia said aloud, a pained look on her face. "Oh, Cassiopeia, what have you done?"

Among the many lessons that had been drilled into her head as a student in the academy, one of them had been the prime directive her mission, a basic guideline that was to guide her conduct for its duration: 'Leave no trace behind, not even footprints.'

A lot of good it did her, she thought. Not only had she managed to interrupt the timestream by going back to a time before time travel had been invented, but she had not contaminated it by allowing denizens of that era to imprint on her. Even if she were to get them back to their own time unharmed there was no telling how the timeline would be affected just by her interacting with those three primitives. Not to mention the fact that she had also managed to alert the authorities of the era of her presence, so there was no telling how much of a disturbance that would cause as well.

Cassiopeia let out a groan as she buried her face into her hands. "Well done, Cassiopeia. Well done", she scolded herself as she let her head hit the table with a soft thud.

It was then that she thought back to the start of her mission a little less than a standard day ago. She had entertained the thought that she would somehow make friends on her voyage, a dream that had been dashed as soon as she was introduced to the three robots her father had assigned to her, robots who now lay in a piled heap in the corner of the bridge. Perhaps this unexpected meeting was some work of fate, an answer to an unspoken prayer she would mutter in her lonelier days at the academy. Perhaps this was one of those acts of Soter her mother would made mention of.

 _Soter works in mysterious ways, little one_ , her mother would say. _When he lays a path before you, it is best to follow it._

Cassiopeia smiled at this thought. Perhaps this was sort of blessing in disguise, some unexpected way of achieving her goal. They would make for far better company than the likes of Nelnut, Suroc, or Visocod Y, certainly. While she may have had to get used to Ethan's brash personality, she felt that she may be able to get along well with Emily. And Luis, well, it certainly wouldn't hurt to have another intellectual aboard, someone to talk to, not to mention that he was easy on the eyes.

Cassiopeia shook her head at the thought. No use in getting caught up in a fantasy, she figured. She could not allow her own selfish desires to cloud her judgement for the mission. Her priority was to get the engines operational again, contact her father, and see where she was to go from there.

Still, she couldn't help but feel her lips curl into a pleasant smile as she thought of the prospect of having friends.

C.G., she thought. Yes, that name would do nicely.


End file.
